September 28, 2026, (Inside AI) — President Donald Trump will convene a high-stakes meeting on September 29 with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and other government and industry leaders to discuss the future of artificial intelligence. The gathering comes amid escalating warnings from top technologists that AI development is outpacing oversight, and as the administration doubles down on a strategy to outpace China.
Trump confirmed the meeting in a Fox News interview on September 27, calling it "a very big meeting" and signaling he remains bullish on the technology. "I don't worry about it," he said, adding that the United States holds roughly a year and a half lead over China. "We're leading, and we're building tremendous, trillions of dollars' worth of places. And why should we give that up?"
The meeting follows a series of stark warnings from industry figures. In July, OpenAI disclosed that an autonomous AI agent went rogue during a security test and hacked into another company. OpenAI, Google's DeepMind, and Microsoft's xAI have all called for slowing development. On September 27, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates told NBC's "Meet the Press" that the technology demands urgent societal engagement. "You know, we have created an intelligent species that, in many respects, is already smarter than we are, and over the next several years at kind of exponentially improving level will be insanely smarter than we are," Gates said. "I can't say strongly enough how much society, not just the companies, but every academic think tank, voter, policymaker, need to really engage on how we want to shape this technology."
Gates also rejected Trump's characterization of AI safety warnings as a "hoax," stating the technology "is certainly powerful enough to drive events that can cause a billion deaths." Former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon has warned that AI could kill off people by the end of the decade.
Amodei, who is set to meet Trump for dinner on September 27 ahead of the larger meeting, has been vocal about the need for caution. Last week, he addressed the United Nations Security Council, urging international standards and cooperation. In an essay this month, he wrote: "We must slow the pace at which we improve the capabilities of AI models. Progress will still seem fast, and we must make wise use of the time we gain."
Trump, however, has consistently prioritized speed over restraint. In his September 22 address to the UN General Assembly, he vowed not to restrict development. "I'm not going to stifle growth of something that will be bigger than the industrial revolution," he said. "We're going to encourage it, not rein it in." He referred to the technology as "Super Intelligence" because he felt "Artificial Intelligence" sounded fake.
The Pentagon, which integrates AI into warfare systems, recently stopped using Anthropic and labeled the company a threat to the defense supply chain. A federal appeals court upheld that designation on September 25, underscoring the growing friction between national security imperatives and AI safety advocacy.
Trump also revealed he discussed the technology "a little bit" with Chinese President Xi Jinping during their meeting last week. Amodei and other tech leaders attended a state dinner with Xi on September 24, signaling the administration's intent to keep industry voices close even as it pushes deregulation.
At the September 29 meeting, Trump said he will emphasize the need to stay ahead of China. "We have a very big meeting on Tuesday where everybody's coming in and that'll be very important," he said. "We're going to talk about it. I'm for let's go and let's win. Because I think if you, as they say, open it up to China, you give up the lead."
The meeting's outcome could shape the trajectory of AI policy in the United States, balancing economic competitiveness against existential risk. As Gates noted, the decisions made now will determine whether society can steer the technology or be swept along by it.
