US way ahead of China in AI, says Trump

Washington: US President Donald Trump has said the United States is leading China "by a lot" in artificial intelligence, signalling that the emerging technology will be among the issues discussed when Chinese President Xi Jinping visits in September.

"We're leading in every single one, and I will tell you, the AI, the artificial intelligence, we're way ahead of number two," Trump said at the White House, where he hosted leaders from the technology, cryptocurrency and financial sectors.

"Number two is China, and I never want to underestimate China, but right now we're way ahead," he said. "President Xi's coming on September 24th. We look forward to it. We'll probably be talking about AI and a lot of other things."

Trump said the US must maintain its lead without imposing rules that could hold back the industry.

"We want to regulate, but we want to have it regulated where they can continue to lead, not regulation that's going to stifle a very important industry, I think maybe bigger than the internet, bigger than anything anyone's seen," he said.

The President argued that AI would create jobs and accelerate medical innovation.

"I think it's going to create a lot of jobs, it's going to create success, it's going to create tremendous innovation medically," Trump said.

He pointed to the construction of AI facilities and data centres as evidence of the technology's employment potential.

"If I were the mayor of a town or the governor of a state, and I had a chance to get a big plant in, an AI plant or a data centre, I would absolutely want it because the jobs are enormous and the money paid, the taxes paid are just enormous," he said.

Trump said his administration was allowing technology companies to build their own electricity-generating facilities under faster approval processes. He said the approach would ease pressure on the ageing US power grid.

"We're getting them fast two- and three-week approvals; they're building some of the greatest electric plants anywhere in the world because our grid is old and tired and weak, and they're actually giving the excess electricity into the grid," he said.

The White House gathering was held ahead of the first meeting of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Innovation Advisory Committee.

It brought together senior regulators and executives from Coinbase, Nasdaq, Robinhood, Kraken, Ripple, Chainlink Labs, Gemini and the Intercontinental Exchange, which owns the New York Stock Exchange.

CFTC Chairman Michael Selig described computing capacity as a strategic commodity central to the contest over AI.

"Some call it digital oil, and America needs to dominate these markets to win the AI race," Selig said.

Trump also urged Congress to approve the CLARITY Act, legislation intended to establish a regulatory structure for digital assets. Coinbase co-founder Brian Armstrong said a vote was expected on September 15 and described the measure as a bipartisan compromise.

The United States and China have made AI leadership a strategic priority, with advanced semiconductors, computing infrastructure, energy supply and specialised talent becoming key areas of competition.

Washington has also used export controls to restrict China's access to some advanced chips and related manufacturing technology.