Does Musk’s AI Skepticism Align With Trump’s AI Ambitions?

Date: November 12, 2024

The recent Trump victory has brought to light a stark concern regarding the contrasting opinions around how AI should be developed.

Donald Trump has boarded the White House as the 47th POTUS, and many existing policies will witness a sharp revamp under his renewed reign. AI has been a major focus for one of the biggest Trump supported, Elon Musk. While he has emerged as one of the biggest early contributors to AI development, musk carries a strong fear of AI turning against humanity.

Donald Trump made it clear during his campaign run that he would rescind Ex-President Joe Biden’s executive order on AI enacted in 2023. Under the enacted order, standard bodies like the National Institute of Standards and Technology keep transparent access to data, operations, and progress of AI to ensure that it’s being developed ethically and safely. 

With Trump regaining authoritarian power, he may move forward with loosening the strictness of the regulations and monitoring AI progress. This move aligns with his motive of staying ahead of China, especially in the technological advancement aspects. 

Elon Musk might be a strong supporter and major beneficiary of Trump’s Presidency. But, the contrast in their views can create a major stir in the AI landscape of America. Musk helped launch OpenAI as a non-profit AI organization but quickly left it as the company progressed towards for-profit motives.

He founded xAI, an advanced AI research division, and Neuralink to build pro-human AI supremacy before it takes over. He strongly believes that AI can surpass human intelligence soon, and if adequate control measures and emergency shutdown are not in place, AI superintelligence can cause significant harm to humanity.

On the other hand, Trump has publicly said multiple times that he wants to build AI on a foundation rooted in free speech. His opinion against the alleged ‘woke mind virus’ can further prompt AI development in a freer, less restricted manner. Under Joe Biden’s presidency, AI chatbots of leaders like Google, OpenAI, and Meta have scored high in preventing their tech from producing harmful and offensive responses. Trump, however, has a completely different outlook on what’s offensive and whether it should push regulations that restrict artificial intelligence technologies available to the masses.