Trump tells the United Nations the US leads China in AI and pledges to encourage rather than restrict superintelligence, with DOJ oversight
Following·Day 5·first covered 19 Sep 2026·3 sources
Trump Pledges at UN to Encourage Superintelligence, Not Restrict It
The gist
Two prominent US voices, Schmidt and Trump, publicly reject restraint on AI development, citing competition with China. Ball's call for a temporary pacing period stands apart from both positions.
The full picture
President Trump told the United Nations that the US leads China in AI development and will encourage rather than restrict superintelligence, with oversight assigned to the Department of Justice rather than dedicated regulatory bodies. Eric Schmidt, in an interview with The Economist's editor-in-chief, said the US will not pause AI development because "the entire incentive system in America is not to pause," and framed the choice as whether people want their lives mediated by American or Chinese AI. Dean Ball issued a separate call to pace frontier AI development beginning November 19, 2026, for at least 30 days.
How it developed
Dean Ball calls for pacing frontier AI development beginning November 19, 2026, for at least 30 days
Srinivas argues on 20VC that US export controls, not technical disadvantage, explain China's capability gap, and may be producing a stronger long-term competitor
Sources
Rohan Paul Twitter
- President Trump UN speech on AI:
- "We're not going to do a pause, because the entire incentive system in America is not to pause. The right thing to do is…
- For another time, Jensen Huang flatly rejects Dario Amodei’s push for a broad ban on selling American tech to China.
- "the only reason why there is even a 12-month gap between open source and frontier models is US export controls."
Dean Ball Twitter
Interconnects
Related
- Grew out ofNSA-CISA-FBI Chinese AI distillation advisory
- Grew out ofThe National Archives Qwen AI deployment
- Continues inXi Jinping's Washington visit and AI diplomacy
- Grew out ofAI labs antitrust suit over development pace
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