Trump Downplays AI Risks, SCOTUS Mail-In Voting Ruling, Kennedy Center Bankruptcy

A Martínez (0:02)

President Trump is downplaying AI companies' doomsday warnings.

Leila Fadel (0:05)

The robots will not be taken over.

A Martínez (0:08)

The AI will not be taken over the rest of the world.

Leila Fadel (0:10)

The whole thing is a hoax. He's framing the issue as a race against China while selling them the chips they need to develop AI.

A Martínez (0:16)

I'm E. Martinez, that's Leila Fadel, and this is Up First from NPR News.

The Supreme Court rejected President Trump's push for new mail-in voting restrictions. Voting by mail has already started in several states. What does the ruling mean for midterm elections?

Leila Fadel (0:31)

And The Kennedy Center says it's on the brink of bankruptcy. Part of the ceiling collapsed because of rain, NPR obtained an internal memo warning that the building is unsafe and may have to close as soon as today. Meanwhile, the fight over putting Trump's name on it is still in court. Stay with us, we'll give you the news you need to start your day.

A Martínez (0:55)

Senator Bernie Sanders and President Trump's former top advisor, Steve Bannon, that's right, Bernie Sanders and Steve Bannon are holding a rally together today to highlight concerns about artificial intelligence. Yeah, executives have been talking for the past week about fears that their technology could destroy humanity without guardrails and they've been calling for Congress to act.

Leila Fadel (1:16)

The president disagrees. He made that clear on Monday when he called NVIDIA CEO Jensen Wong. Wong was on stage for a taping of the Business and Technology podcast All In at a conference hosted by that podcast.

Anastasia Sulkas (1:28)

The robots will not be taken over. The AI will not be taken over the rest of the world.

A Martínez (1:33)

The whole thing is a hoax. With us is NPR's White House correspondent, Emily Fang. So, Emily, what else has President Trump said about AI recently?

Emily Fang (1:42)

He has written a lot on his social media site, True Social this week. He's called criticism of AI and relatedly data centers that help power these AI models, a, quote, sick conspiracy that would only benefit China, which is a major AI competitor with US companies. He's brushed off possibility of regulating development of cutting edge AI, which he called the US's, quote, golden goose. And he wrote that fears that AI could take over the world were a, quote, hoax and scam. And he's really framed AI as a race against China. And I can briefly summarize his arguments as, if the US doesn't build it, then China is going to do it first. But there's serious debate right now in the global AI industry on whether Chinese companies actually can get ahead of the US on AI, because the US maintains a lead right now.

And also whether Beijing really would want to create a super powerful AI that might destroy all of humanity, because arguably that's not in China's interest either.

A Martínez (2:35)

Oh, sure. Now, thinking about Trump's inauguration a few years ago, I remember a lot of tech CEOs right there, right next to him in attendance and on the donor list. What are Trump's ties to this industry?

Emily Fang (2:46)

A good example is chip maker, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, who you heard about in the intro. Trump even flew Huang with him during his trip to China this spring. There's also Trump's former AI czar and the co-host of that podcast snippet you heard earlier, hosted by David Sachs. He is a long-time Silicon Valley investor. And these types of connections have certainly shaped Trump's focus on AI as well as the industry's market share in the US. There have been massive investments driving the US economy from the AI industry. And my reporting shows how in the past year, Trump advisors have leaned heavily on academics and think tank researchers and Hill aids to quash analysis that's supportive of stronger export controls against AI.

But the intense public debate over AI this month reflects, as I see it, deeply contradictory assumptions that underpin Trump's pro-technology, pro-business stance.

A Martínez (3:38)

Ooh, what do you mean by that?

Emily Fang (3:39)

Well, for example, last year, the Trump administration suspended some AI export controls, and they also allow Chinese companies to buy a powerful semiconductor chip that's called the H20 with the US government taking a cut of sales. That was despite warnings that China needs these chips specifically to further its AI ambitions. Some of the biggest trade deals inked under Trump's second term have involved US technology that's been included in data centers built in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

These are US allied countries, but there are also countries that have very strong economic ties with China. And I talked to Chris McGuire about all of this. He's a senior fellow at the nonpartisan think tank Council on Foreign Relations. He's also a former senior director of the National Security Council during the Biden administration.