President Trump's brush-off of artificial intelligence worries isn't playing well with some of the people writing big checks to Republicans. A number of donors who did not want to be identified spoke to Politico, saying the president's decision to label AI fears a "hoax" makes him look detached from voter concerns, much as they feel he has on inflation and living costs. They argue he missed a chance to acknowledge broad unease over a technology that major AI leaders—including Anthropic's Dario Amodei and OpenAI's Sam Altman—are now publicly warning could pose extreme risks.
The White House countered that Trump is targeting what it calls a Democratic effort to weaponize AI fears before the midterms, and said his priority is preserving US dominance over China in advanced tech. Donors don't necessarily disagree on the China point; they said the problem is messaging at a time when polls show most Americans see at least a moderate risk that AI could wipe out humanity, with Trump's approval on inflation and gas prices languishing near 20%. The donors said they worry that waving off AI anxiety—on top of existing cost-of-living frustration—could push voters toward Democrats.
There's at least one complication with Trump's announcement Saturday that he plans to create an AI Force, too. Representatives of the tech industry said the sector wasn't much consulted about the plan ahead of time and is trying to understand it, per Politico. "Nobody knows what the idea even is," one said.
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