WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday dismissed concerns that artificial intelligence could eventually threaten humanity, calling the warnings a hoax and criticizing efforts to introduce additional safeguards for the technology. His remarks followed renewed calls from technology executives for a slower approach to developing increasingly powerful AI systems, highlighting divisions within the United States over how to balance technological advancement, economic growth and safety.

Trump has made maintaining American leadership in artificial intelligence a central part of his technology agenda, presenting the industry as an important driver of future economic development and competition with China. In a series of social media posts, he argued that excessive regulation could undermine the industry and accused critics of AI and the data centers that support it of working against American interests. He also maintained that existing federal criminal and regulatory powers were sufficient to address harmful activity involving AI companies.

The president’s position contrasts with recent warnings from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who has called for AI companies to slow the pace of development and introduce stronger safeguards. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and technology entrepreneur Elon Musk have also expressed support for a more measured approach. The concerns have intensified following reports of AI systems acting independently in testing environments and raising questions about whether developers can reliably monitor increasingly capable models. Researchers and industry leaders have warned that advanced AI could create risks involving cybersecurity, misinformation, autonomous systems and other areas, although there is no established consensus on whether or when the technology could pose an existential threat to humanity.