# Trump's AI race with China faces a control problem

> Industry leaders warn AI systems are advancing faster than humans can safely control them, even as the U.S. races China.
- Title: Trump's AI race with China faces a control problem · Fox News
- Summary: Industry leaders warn AI systems are advancing faster than humans can safely control them, even as the U.S. races China. The AI race with China creates a…
- Keywords: donald trump, xi jinping, china, artificial intelligence, ai safety, anthropic, openai, dario amodei, sam altman, elon musk, national security, ai regulation
- Source: Fox News — https://foxnews.com/opinion/trumps-ai-race-china-could-become-biggest-mistake-our-time
- Author: Robert Maginnis
- Published: 2026-09-15T00:00:00+00:00
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: donald trump, xi jinping, china, artificial intelligence, ai safety, anthropic, openai, dario amodei, sam altman, elon musk, national security, ai regulation
## Trump and Xi meet on AI
Trump will host Xi Jinping in Washington on September 24. AI will be a major topic as the U.S. insists it must stay ahead of China.
## Researcher warns of crunch time
Jacob Coxon resigned from Anthropic last week, warning that competition is driving AI systems forward faster than researchers can control them.
## Anthropic CEO calls for slowdown
Dario Amodei argued the industry must deliberately slow capability increases so safeguards can catch up. He proposed independent evaluators inside labs.

> We must slow the pace at which we improve the capabilities of AI models
## Industry rivals agree on caution
OpenAI's Sam Altman, Elon Musk, Google DeepMind's Demis Hassabis, and Microsoft's Satya Nadella all backed Amodei's call for slower development.

> Dario is right
## Is this just marketing
Anthropic is preparing an IPO that could value it at nearly $2 trillion. Some question whether safety warnings also advertise the technology's power.
## China changes the calculation
America can't consider safety warnings in a vacuum. The competition with China spans chips, energy, cyber operations, and military power.
## We can't pause because China won't
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent captured the bind: America can't pause AI development because China won't pause either.

> We can't pause. You can't, because the Chinese won't pause
## Trump dismisses the warnings
Asked if AI should slow, Trump called the warnings exaggerated. He said whoever wins AI wins, and guardrails can be added later.

> Whoever wins AI wins
## Congress lacks a framework
House Speaker Mike Johnson rejected an emergency moratorium, warning that rushing to regulate would let China close the gap.
## China accused of stealing AI tech
U.S. officials accused Chinese AI companies including DeepSeek and Alibaba of distilling American AI technology at industrial scale.
## Beijing rejects U.S. approach
China's Foreign Ministry denounced what it called fearmongering and warned that confrontation would disrupt global AI governance.
## The classic security dilemma
Every lab races because rivals race. Every nation accelerates because it fears falling behind, leaving both sides less secure.
## Verification is nearly impossible
Nuclear arms control dealt with physical warheads. Frontier AI resides in software and model weights, making verification far harder.
## Key takeaway

The AI race with China creates a paradox: America can't afford to fall behind, but racing ahead may produce systems neither side can control.