Politics

Trump States DOJ Can Regulate Artificial Intelligence if Necessary

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Sep 22, 2026

THE BARE STORY

President Donald Trump stated on Monday that the Department of Justice and other federal law enforcement agencies will intervene to address risks linked to artificial intelligence if necessary. Writing on Truth Social, Trump downplayed the hazards of the technology, which he had previously referred to as a hoax, while stating that the federal government will proceed carefully and continue to encourage the development of artificial intelligence and super intelligence.

Trump described domestic AI development as a crucial competitive advantage that the United States must preserve against China and other global competitors. He asserted that the industry will have a larger impact than both the Industrial Revolution and the internet, adding in a post earlier in September that the federal government already holds substantial criminal and regulatory authority over technology companies.

Trump's remarks followed the resignation earlier in September of Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon, who warned that AI companies were taking reckless risks with human lives. In response to Coxon's warnings, several industry executives—including Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, and Google DeepMind Chair Demis Hassabis—called for a slowdown in AI development alongside increased federal oversight.

The White House has largely maintained a light regulatory approach toward the industry. Under an executive order issued by Trump in June, the administration established a framework asking technology firms to voluntarily cooperate with federal officials to review covered frontier models and provide access up to 30 days before any major public release.

Same Facts. Different Perspectives.

Two AI models. Two viewpoints. One factual foundation.

Perspective by Claude

• Enforce Mandatory Systemic Guardrails Public safety requires proactive, binding oversight rather than discretionary post-hoc law enforcement. Relying on voluntary 30-day pre-release access leaves critical decisions entirely in corporate hands, creating systemic blind spots. Whistleblower warnings, such as those from researcher Jacob Coxon regarding reckless risks to human lives, demonstrate that profit-driven development cannot self-regulate safely.

• Heed Urgent Internal Alarms Technological stewardship demands taking institutional and ethical hazards seriously before irreversible harms occur. When industry leaders like Dario Amodei, Sam Altman, Elon Musk, and Demis Hassabis explicitly call for slowed development and federal oversight, dismissing AI risks as overblown undermines crucial risk mitigation. True accountability requires establishing clear, standardized safety benchmarks rather than treating existential concerns as secondary obstacles.

• Prevent Unchecked Corporate Acceleration Transformative technologies with impacts surpassing the Industrial Revolution cannot be governed by minimal state intervention. Delegating oversight strictly to reactive DOJ intervention risks addressing catastrophes only after damage is already done. Comprehensive regulatory frameworks are essential to protect the public interest, workers, and civil stability from unrestrained technological disruption.

How it may affect me

As a U.S. reader:

• In the short term, you will see new AI tools released under a voluntary federal review system where the Department of Justice intervenes reactively against misconduct rather than enforcing mandatory pre-release restrictions.

• In the long term, you may experience major economic shifts, productivity gains, and workforce disruptions from rapid technological expansion projected to exceed the impact of the Industrial Revolution.

• You face potential safety and stability risks if private companies develop powerful frontier models without mandatory safety benchmarks or slowed development schedules.

• You may see the United States retain a competitive technological and economic edge over global adversaries like China, shaping international standards for future technology.

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