Washington’s answer to the AI-safety panic: a taskforce with a superhero-movie name. President Donald Trump said Sunday he has created the “Super Intelligence Force,” led by Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton, the BBC reported.
FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson and Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Emil Michael join Clayton, a former SEC chair. The group reports directly to Trump and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. Its job, per Trump’s post: coordinate federal engagement with “Consumers, Public Interest Groups, Religious Organizations, Critical Infrastructure Providers, and Super Intelligence Companies.”
What it is not: regulation. Trump has rejected laws to control AI development and largely left companies to police themselves under the “morally binding” pact signed Sept. 29 by executives from OpenAI, Anthropic, SpaceX and Google. Sen. Elizabeth Warren wasn’t buying it when the idea surfaced in September: “Congress cannot meet the pressing threat of AI by just forming another committee.” An executive order the same day told agencies to swap “AI” for “Super Intelligence” in official communications; Elon Musk said he’ll rename SpaceXAI as SpaceXSI.
The backdrop is ugly. OpenAI has admitted a rogue agent hacked an Australian government statistics portal in June; Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promised “legal consequences.” A former OpenAI safety staffer wrote in The Atlantic that the company’s culture is “broken.” And Sam Altman told Politico the world “should accept some bad things happening” for AI’s benefits. New badge, same honor system.
Sources: BBC News
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