President Trump has spent much of his time in office arguing that artificial intelligence should be left to grow with as little government interference as possible. On Sunday he said something different: that he does not mind guardrails on the technology, as long as they do not cost the United States its lead over China.
The remarks came in his “60 Minutes” interview with CBS correspondent Ross Douthat, his first long sit down since the midterm elections. Asked whether the country should accept the risks of AI in order to stay ahead of China, Trump said, “I think that the risk is not nearly as real as they talk. And I think the risk can be managed.” Asked whether he would work with Democrats if they wanted to put safeguards into law, he said he would “absolutely,” then added the condition: “I don’t mind guardrails. But I don’t wanna put us in a deep second position. We’re leading number one. And China has no guardrails, by the way.”
The shift is one of tone, and it is worth being exact about what it is not. No bill, executive order or agency rule came with the remarks. He did not name a single safeguard he would sign, and the level of regulation he would accept remains unclear, as Reuters noted in its report. In September he had dismissed AI safety fears and suggested the only guardrail the technology needs is a strong president.
His proof that the risk is already managed was an anecdote. Trump said his Justice Department handles AI risk, and described a case in which, he said, officials told the leader of a major AI company who was reported to be “doing something bad with AI” to get ready to go to jail and to kiss his wife good night. He named no company, no person and no date, and there is no public record of such a case. That part of the interview rests on his word alone.
The opening matters because of who now holds Congress. Democrats, who take the House and Senate in January, are preparing AI hearings. Representative Ted Lieu, a member of the Democratic leadership, has said the new majority will hold hearings and push legislation, and the bills named as priorities include the GUARD Act, which covers AI companions and minors, and the AI LEAD Act, which would set liability standards for AI systems. Trump also signed an executive order in June directing agencies to increase their scrutiny of advanced AI models. Whether his “I would absolutely” becomes a signature on a Democratic bill is a question for the new Congress, not for this interview.
The interview covered far more than AI, including immigration, where he said his deportation policy “might be too tough,” as we reported in our story on the interview. On AI, the headline is narrow but real: a president who has resisted the language of regulation has now accepted the word guardrails, with one condition attached, and the condition is China.
Transparency note: This story is based on the transcript of the CBS interview as published by CBS News and read through the reporting of Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and Gizmodo. The anecdote about a threatened AI executive is the president’s account and is flagged in the story as unverified.
