U.S. Treasury Secretary on AI Regulation Debate: "Humans Must Be Responsible; There Will Be No Immunity"

[Financial News] The Trump administration, which opposes regulations on the use and development of artificial intelligence (AI), has said that companies involved should be held responsible for AI misuse. Despite the industry's calls for regulations, U.S. President Donald Trump has emphasized that the related sector must continue to develop.
In an interview with U.S. business news outlet CNBC on the 21st (local time), U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was asked whether he agreed with Trump's opposition to AI regulation. He replied, "Humans are the ones who must be held responsible, not AI."
The Trump administration is currently locked in a standoff with companies leading AI development over the introduction of regulations. Dario Amodei, CEO of U.S. AI company Anthropic, said in a post on the 12th that AI development was proceeding recklessly. He cited the potential loss of human control over AI, the possibility of AI being used in terrorist attacks, and the possibility of AI-enabled economic attacks, arguing that the pace of development should be slowed. Following this, the heads of AI developers, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, and Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google's AI subsidiary DeepMind, posted on X that Amodei was right. At an industry event on the 15th, Amodei called for a three-pronged approach involving self-assessment of AI, the establishment of industry standards, and international cooperation.
However, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, whose company supplies AI semiconductors to AI firms, rebutted Amodei at the same event on the 15th. Huang said that AI safety issues could be resolved through engineering. Some smaller AI companies argued that leading players such as Anthropic had raised the issue of regulation to hold back newer competitors.
Trump, who is promoting the AI industry at the national level, also voiced opposition in a post on Truth Social on the 14th. On the 21st, Trump wrote on Truth Social, "We will be careful. That's why we have the Justice Department and other law enforcement agencies to control the situation if necessary. But I will only encourage AI or superintelligence (SI)." Trump argued, "The people who said, 'We will all be dead within 12 years because of global warming' are the same people who now say AI will kill us, robots will attack us, and everything is a catastrophe."
In the interview on the 21st, Bessent emphasized that AI development companies should not expect "legal immunity" from the Trump administration.
Meanwhile, Bessent said he held talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng for 12 hours on the 20th, ahead of the U.S.-China summit scheduled for the 24th. He said they discussed establishing a communication channel to prepare for potential AI-related incidents in the future.
Bessent explained, "Such a channel would allow both sides to agree on what the major AI risk factors are, including uncontrollable AI agents and non-state actors such as terrorist groups misusing AI in cyberattacks or the development of biological weapons."
 

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