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Trump frames unregulated AI as a way to keep ahead of China – but in fact, it harms US national security
Trump frames unregulated AI as a way to keep ahead of China – but in fact, it harms US national security. Originally published by The Conversation.
By Stephen Collins, Professor of Government and International Affairs, Kennesaw State University · 2026-09-28T10:02:27.140Z
Are Presidents Trump and Xi walking down a dangerous path on AI? Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images Amid the chorus of voices calling for a slowdown in AI advancement https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/12/anthropic ceo dario amodei seeks immediate slowdown artificial intelligence 01073519 and more government regulation https://abcnews.com/US/23 states urge congress regulate ai warn risks/story?id=136711204 and oversight of the technology, one prominent contrarian voice stands out: that of Donald J. Trump. The U.S president has repeatedly argued that the introduction of robust regulations to slow down progress on AI threatens U.S. national interests https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/6089123 trump resists ai regulation warnings/ by enabling China to seize the advantage. “Whoever wins AI, WINS!” Trump posted on social media http://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117269745153543631 on Sept. 21, 2026, and singled out China as the primary threat to America “winning” AI. He followed up with a speech at the United Nations in which he outlined his administration’s total rejection https://thehill.com/newsletters/6104340 report/6104340 trump tells un that ai needs a rebrand/amp/ of “any attempt to construct a globalist scheme to control” artificial intelligence. Certainly, China seizing the global lead on AI would represent an alarming setback to American strategic and economic interests. As a scholar whose research examines the intersection https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=dMo5aFUAAAAJ&hl=en of international relations and technology, I contend that China’s swift advances in AI constitute one of the leading reasons why regulation of the U.S. AI industry is necessary. Paradoxical as it may sound, slowing down AI advancement in the U.S. would also decelerate China’s advances. Even more important, recent revelations about AI “going rogue,” https://theconversation.com/government hacks rogue agents and no transparency can we ever fully trust ai 292536 coupled with the astonishing growth in power and capability of new AI models https://fortune.com/2026/02/24/anthropic china deepseek theft claude distillation copyright national security/ , strongly suggest that an unregulated sector represents a greater security threat for the United States than the threat of a surge in capabilities by China. Unregulated AI and security threats Leading industry https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/12/technology/anthropic dario amodei ai slowdown.html and political figures https://www.un.org/unispal/document/sg address unga 81 22sep26/ around the globe have sounded the alarm about the security threats presented by unchecked AI growth. About 8 in 10 Americans share these concerns https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/24/politics/cnn poll ai data centers vis , according to recent polling, as a large majority of Democrats, Independents and Republicans support increasing AI regulations. These threats include heightened U.S. vulnerability to attacks from foreign nations and terrorist groups who can exploit AI advances https://unicri.org/News/Algorithms Terrorism UNICRI UNOCCT to build more lethal weapons systems https://hms.harvard.edu/news/risks artificial intelligence weapons design – both conventional arms and weapons of mass destruction. Advances in the sector also increase the chance of nefarious actors launching devastating cyberattacks, with AI becoming increasingly adept https://www.reuters.com/world/asia pacific/five eyes intelligence alliance warns that new ai models pose urgent cyber risk 2026 06 22/?utm source=chatgpt.com at identifying and exploiting cybersecurity vulnerabilities. These concerns are known within the industry. On Sept. 10, 2026, Anthropic issued a report http://bbc.com/news/articles/cx2zrrpkx20o?accountMarketingPreferences=off revealing a series of incidents in which foreign actors – some based in China, Russia and Iran – used Claude in cyber, influence, surveillance and fraud operations and to support weapons development. Google similarly detected recent attempts by actors linked to China, Russia, North Korea and Iran to use its Gemini AI model https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat intelligence/from prompting to autonomy the evolution of adversarial ai to carry out hacking, disinformation, espionage and criminal operations. Anthropic’s report revealed https://www.anthropic.com/threat intelligence report september 2026 “five case studies of actors using our models in ways that could support biological weapons development.” Unregulated AI poses not just a severe security challenge but a potentially existential threat https://theconversation.com/how would ai actually kill all humans here are the top 5 scenarios 292220 . An AI induced nuclear missile launch, the release of super pathogens that cause pandemics and attacks on critical life sustaining infrastructure have all been raised as potential concerns. Aside from these more extreme scenarios, unchecked AI poses a threat to the digital infrastructure that undergirds the U.S. and world economies.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media at the White House alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sept. 24, 2026. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Slowing the speedboat Trump may dismiss these worst case scenarios https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cw980n0nd0qjo as a “hoax,” but the national security threats are real. Trump’s argument is that the best way to protect the U.S. is to make sure American companies stay ahead of China on AI. Indeed, China’s AI models are not far behind, and China possesses an advantage in a factor vital to AI systems – electric power generation https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/23/us/politics/ai us china trump xi economy.html , which AI consumes in large and growing quantities. Still, the consensus of tech experts is that the U.S. remains the world’s top AI power due to American firms’ lead in advanced models and computer chips https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/23/us/politics/ai us china trump xi economy.html and the scale of America’s computing power – through chips, processors and servers – as well as the level of capital investment https://hai.stanford.edu/ai index/2026 ai index report . However, the rapid advance of AI capabilities by American firms has helped China to accelerate its own AI industry. China uses a process known as distillation https://fortune.com/2026/02/24/anthropic china deepseek theft claude distillation copyright national security/ to exploit cutting edge U.S. AI models to train China’s own models. The process enables China to develop models nearly as powerful but much more efficient, using far fewer resources. Beijing’s reliance on distillation, according to Matt Sheehan https://carnegieendowment.org/people/matt sheehan , a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, is a result of its own limited computing power, estimated at just one tenth that of the United States. As a result of its distillation strategy, the pace of China’s AI progress is tightly linked to U.S. progress https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/15/opinion/ezra klein podcast matt sheehan.html?smid=nytcore ios share . Using Sheenan’s analogy, the relationship is much like a speedboat pulling a water skier: If the U.S. eases on the AI throttle, China will be forced to slow down as well. Therefore, racing ahead unchecked at breakneck speed – the approach advocated by Trump – would not guarantee that the U.S. widens its AI lead. Chinese firms will continue to exploit U.S. AI progress to strengthen their offensive capabilities https://thediplomat.com/2026/08/chinas military is now using ai to plan strike operations/ .
Visitors attend an AI expo on Sept. 22, 2026, in Beijing, China. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images Global governance and regulation As such, rather than jeopardizing American national security, U.S. regulations that slow AI advancement could strengthen security by slowing down the Chinese government’s own access to cutting edge AI. The “China threat” argument against greater U.S. regulation on AI is also predicated on the notion that Beijing does not possess its own concerns about the dangers of unchecked growth in AI power, and this isn’t the case. Chinese leaders harbor serious security and domestic affairs–related concerns about uncontrolled AI growth https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/14/world/asia/china ai security risks anthropic.html . Indeed, if there is one AI area where China leads the U.S., it is in regulations on AI. Consider, for example, that as far back as 2021, Beijing imposed its first major set of AI regulations https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2024/02/tracing the roots of chinas ai regulations?utm source=chatgpt.com . And while top figures in the Trump administration were urging less regulation, Chinese officials were calling for the opposite. In recent months, Chinese officials have repeatedly called for greater domestic and international oversight of AI https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/09/25/trump rejects demands ai rules while xi calls human control/ . China’s leader, Xi Jinping, has been enthusiastic about AI advances, but his speech at the 2026 World AI Conference in Shanghai urgently expressed the need for strong AI regulations and oversight https://www.ft.com/content/ddb316b4 c6ae 4b9b 9d4a 63d63201d4fc?utm source=chatgpt.com&syn 25a6b1a6=1 . Speaking at the U.N. Security Council’s meeting on AI and International Security on Sept. 23, 2026, Fu Cong, China’s permanent representative to the United Nations, made the case for https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/23/us chinese visions for ai regulation differ sharply at un meeting 01090906 “a consensus based global governance framework” for AI to “build institutional guardrails that preserve international peace and security.” Beijing appears to be framing unregulated AI advancement not as a race but as a common threat. Should Trump be convinced by such a narrative, then there may be grounds for optimism that Washington and Beijing in the near future will be able to reach agreement on AI governance and regulation – a development that would better ensure a safer future for both nations.
Stephen Collins does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.