U.S. President Donald Trump said federal law enforcement agencies should intervene in cases of misconduct by artificial intelligence companies. In an interview with Time magazine given on Monday and published Thursday, Trump argued that the industry should be overseen through criminal investigations when necessary rather than heavy government regulations.
Trump said the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation should serve as the primary oversight mechanism for artificial intelligence companies. He said new regulations could drive domestic technology companies out of business and called for preserving the industry’s contribution to economic growth.
Describing artificial intelligence as a new and major industry, Trump said companies should regulate their own conduct despite potential negative consequences. Referring to a dinner he had with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Trump said Amodei’s views differed from how they had been portrayed in the media and that he diverged from Trump’s own views only to a limited extent.

Trump calls for data center investment
Trump argued that the United States needs to expand its computing infrastructure. Warning that municipalities opposing the construction of data centers could face economic stagnation, Trump said these facilities provide revenue to local governments and reduce the economic burden on households.
Trump said he was unhappy that U.S. technology companies were building major infrastructure investments abroad and criticized European countries’ efforts to draw facilities away from the U.S. market. Citing Google’s large facility in Finland as an example, Trump said he was not pleased with the situation.

Warning over China’s capacity
Trump said he considered data center capacity important for national security and warned that delays to investment in the United States could allow computing superiority to shift to rival countries.
Pointing to China’s goals of increasing its data center capacity, Trump said facilities that are not built in the United States would be constructed in other countries.