US President Donald Trump has rejected calls to slow the rapid development of artificial intelligence, saying the United States must maintain its lead over China in the technology race.

Speaking to reporters in Ireland on Sunday before his departure, Trump acknowledged concerns about the risks associated with AI but said his priority was ensuring the US remains ahead of China.

“We’re leading China in AI,” Trump said. “We’re the most sophisticated country in the world, and I want to keep it that way because whoever wins AI wins.”

His remarks come amid growing warnings from technology leaders and policymakers over the potential risks of developing increasingly advanced AI systems without adequate safeguards.

Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei has proposed a three-part framework for “pacing the frontier” of AI development. His plan calls for independent evaluators to assess AI companies’ safety practices, cooperation among countries to establish common standards, and broader international coordination to verify compliance.

OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman and Tesla and SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk have backed the proposal, adding to calls for greater oversight of advanced AI development.

US Senator Bernie Sanders has also urged Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss an international treaty on AI regulation when they meet.

“We need a pause on advanced AI development and a ban on artificial superintelligence…before it is too late,” Sanders wrote on X.

The debate highlights growing tensions between efforts to maintain technological competitiveness and calls for stronger safeguards against the potential risks posed by increasingly powerful AI systems.