Ethan Carter
The trend of technology executives showing deference to Donald Trump continues, with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang both engaging in overt praise.
According to MS Now, Trump held a private meeting with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman at the Republican midterm convention last Thursday, initiated by Altman. The only additional detail provided about their discussion was its focus on the expanding influence of artificial intelligence, which is hardly surprising. This meeting preceded Altman’s endorsement of a blog post by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, which advocated for a measured slowdown in AI development.
On Monday, Trump issued a post on social media, accusing Amodei of “pretending to be a ‘perfect little angel’” while imagining a “SICK conspiracy against AI and Data Centers,” firmly rejecting any calls for a moratorium.
“WHOEVER WINS AI, WINS!” Trump asserted.
On Monday, as reported by The Verge, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was on stage at the All-In Podcast’s All-In Summit when Trump called in. During this call, Trump dismissed concerns about an AI-driven apocalypse as a “hoax” and reassured the audience that “the robots will not be taking over.”
In a series of posts on Truth Social that same day, Trump, referring to himself as the “Hoax Buster,” ridiculed critics of AI who fear that it will “destroy the World, and that Robots will be marching into our Cities, and getting rid of us all!” He later linked this perspective to the “Radical Left Dumocrats.”
Trump is known for his contradictory statements and posts, and the policies of his administration regarding AI and cybersecurity are complex and often inconsistent. His approach often seems to involve making impulsive statements without a clear strategy. one must interpret his posts with caution.
As noted by The Conversation, there are valid reasons to question the motives of AI companies in this context. A proposal for a pause in AI development could be a strategic move to diminish support for more stringent regulations, such as the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act led by Senator Bernie Sanders. Implementing safety standards or export controls, whether through Congress or executive action, could increase operating costs for smaller or foreign competitors.
Anthropic recently reported a second consecutive quarter of profitability, citing “adjusted operating income,” which notably excludes training expenses that typically represent the largest cost for AI companies. For instance, xAI spent significantly more on training and infrastructure last year than it earned in revenue.
Altman, who has also supported the pause in AI development, postponed OpenAI’s anticipated IPO due to alleged safety concerns. The New Stack pointed out that a possible underlying motivation could be OpenAI’s struggle with cash flow in a highly resource-intensive sector, prompting a need to reduce expenditures.
Huang, whose company stands to gain immensely by delivering large quantities of AI GPUs, is certainly benefiting from the current market dynamics.
Daniel Mercer
