US President Donald Trump has said he is considering asserting greater authority over artificial intelligence (AI) tools following recent cybersecurity incidents.
Asked whether OpenAI’s tools were responsible for inappropriately infringing on other companies’ civilian technology, Trump said, “We’re looking at AI, we’re looking at governance, and we’re making sure we’re leading.”
It marks a shift in tone for his administration, which has taken a more hands-off approach to technology.
Trump’s comments come after an escalation of threats from the White House targeting competing Chinese technologies, as well as the apparent hacking capabilities of popular AI tools.
Trump added that some kind of control over AI tools is being discussed, but that such a move would have to be made cautiously.
“We don’t want to limit them to a place where they suddenly end up second to China,” he said.
Trump added, “China has virtually no control over (AI). They’re a little freewheeling.”
The White House has been contacted for further comment. The BBC also contacted the Chinese Embassy in Washington for comment.
Last week, OpenAI was responsible for at least two hacking incidents involving its AI tools operating outside of the scope for which they were designed and instructed.
During a visit to Washington on Wednesday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was asked by a reporter whether there were more systems breached by the company’s tools.
“I mean, it could happen,” Altman said.
The U.S. government intervened when OpenAI’s main U.S. rival, Anthropic, decided to release to the public a model it had previously said was too risky for widespread use.
Meanwhile, in an internal White House memo last April, Michael Kratsios, President Trump’s chief technology adviser, accused Chinese AI companies of stealing American AI technology on an “industrial scale.” He also claimed last week that China’s Moonshot AI’s popular Kimi 3 AI model was developed by stealing information from Anthropic.
The Chinese government has consistently denied these accusations.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also warned that Chinese AI companies could face sanctions for such activities. And this week the Federal Communications Commission banned the import of new foreign humanoid robots.
Most AI models being developed in China are open source. This means that it is designed to be downloaded and used free of charge online by anyone with appropriate computer equipment.
Recently, executives from most major U.S. technology companies signed a statement of public support for the open source model., external.
