White House Downplays AI Turmoil Concerns Amid Interest Rate Debate

The White House's economic adviser, Kevin Hassett, downplayed concerns that recent warnings over artificial intelligence risks could trigger market turmoil. In an interview with CNN, he described a letter by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei as 'a very thoughtful letter' outlining the need to pace AI developments while ensuring safety.

Hassett endorsed Amodei's call for independent observers embedded in firms during model training, likening them to bank supervisors. He also acknowledged risks such as autonomous agents compromising cybersecurity, but warned that a bigger risk is foreign development of biological weapons using advanced AI.

US President Donald Trump opposed slowing down the domestic AI industry, arguing it's crucial to maintain a technological advantage over China for global leadership. Hassett and Trump believe the Federal Reserve has no compelling reason to raise interest rates despite recent inflation data showing 3.4% annual growth in August.