In the relentless pursuit of technological superiority, strange new risks are being created. Just as nuclear scientists weren't sure whether the first atomic explosion would ignite the Earth's atmosphere, today's artificial intelligence researchers can't say whether smarter computers will be friends or enemies. Some believe that there is a possibility that superhuman intelligence may escape human control entirely. If a runaway AGI wanted to use our oxygen, electricity and carbon for its own purposes, we might not be able to do anything to stop it. Thus, as some scientists fear, the winner of the race to create AGI may not be the United States and China, but rogue AI itself, which will mark the end of human civilization.
The Trump administration is skeptical about these risks. The big danger, according to current and former White House insiders, is that the US will lose its technological leadership compared to China. It is this belief, more than any other, that drives the US government's approach to AI. “It should be unacceptable for any American to live in a world in which China can surpass us in AI and reap economic and military benefits,” David Sachs, President Trump’s AI chief, said in January. “If we burden ourselves with unnecessary rules,” he added a month later, “[China] They will take advantage of this fact and win.”
