# Trump says Justice Department can 'rein in' AI if needed

> President Trump says federal intervention is possible but reiterates preference for light-touch regulation of artificial intelligence.
- Title: Trump says Justice Department can 'rein in' AI if needed
- Summary: President Trump says federal intervention is possible but reiterates preference for light-touch regulation of artificial intelligence. Trump said the Justice…
- Keywords: donald trump, artificial intelligence, regulation, justice department, dario amodei, anthropic, ai safety, business, technology, Trump, Justice, Department
- Source: Business Insider — https://businessinsider.com/trump-ai-justice-department-regulations-2026-9
- Author: Brent D. Griffiths
- Published: 2026-09-21T17:59:33.266+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: donald trump, artificial intelligence, regulation, justice department, dario amodei, anthropic, ai safety, business, technology
## Trump: Justice Department can regulate AI
President Donald Trump said on Monday the Justice Department and other law enforcement bodies have the ability to rein in AI if necessary.

> We will be careful, and that's why we have the Department of Justice, and other Law Enforcement bodies, that will rein things in if we have to.
## Trump prefers minimal AI oversight
Trump reiterated his long-held belief that light-touch regulation is best, saying he will only encourage AI or super intelligence development.

> I will only encourage AI or, SI (SUPER INTELLIGENCE)!
## Treasury Secretary: AI labs must self-regulate
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday the Trump administration will not protect frontier AI labs from liability risks, saying they must take responsibility themselves.

> These labs need to take responsibility for themselves. They can slow down any time they want to.
## Amodei pushes for federal AI regulation
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei is pushing for federal regulation, with support from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, arguing labs should pace development.
## Trump dismisses AI safety as hoax
Trump called AI safety concerns a hoax comparable to his views on climate change and Russia investigations, saying only a smart president is needed as guardrail.

> This is more of a Hoax than even that of RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA, UKRAINE, UKRAINE, UKRAINE, UKRAINE, and Climate Change!
## AI researcher warns of existential risk
Former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon recently resigned and warned that workers at AI labs privately fear the technology could one day kill all humans.
## Key takeaway

Trump said the Justice Department can regulate AI if necessary, but he favours minimal oversight and dismissed AI safety concerns as a hoax.