The private sector is more than capable of addressing the risks posed by rapidly advancing artificial intelligence, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told CNBC on Tuesday.
“I think these are completely solvable problems,” Hassett said on “Squawk Box.”
The comments came one day after President Donald Trump went on a social media rampage against AI industry leaders and others who have raised alarms about their own nascent technology.
Those fears are a “hoax,” insisted Trump, whose AI-friendly administration argues U.S. dominance over China in the fast-expanding industry is essential.
Hassett told CNBC that the government already plays a role that should not be enlarged, a role an increasing number of industry officials and Congress members are calling for.
“These are solvable problems, and the private sector is the right place to solve them,” he said. “And it doesn’t mean the government is asleep at the wheel. Not at all. It’s watching closely, using law enforcement when necessary to make sure that the firms are acting responsibly.”
Concerns over AI have become a front-burner issue, especially following recent warnings from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, whose call for an AI slowdown was endorsed by OpenAI‘s Sam Altman, SpaceX‘s Elon Musk and others.
But Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on Monday signaled agreement with Trump when he took a phone call from the president live on stage at the All-In Summit in Los Angeles.
The AI alarmists and data center opponents are “playing right into the hands of a lot of people that don’t want to see it happen,” Trump said. “We’re not going to let that happen.”
“You’re right,” Huang replied. “We’re not going to let that happen, sir.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, testifying before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday, affirmed that “I would just say the president is completely aligned” with Huang.
With the midterm election just seven weeks away, politicians on both sides of the aisle are increasingly speaking up about AI. But Vice President JD Vance did not mention AI or data centers when he spoke to Republican lawmakers behind closed doors Tuesday morning about the midterms, Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., told reporters after the gathering.
— Laura Garrison contributed to this report.