Trump warns AI race will decide global power, says US leads China ‘by a lot’

US President Donald Trump said the United States must maintain its lead in artificial intelligence and “superintelligence”, rejecting efforts to impose global controls on the technology and warning that the country that wins the AI race will hold a decisive advantage.

Addressing the UN General Assembly, Trump said his administration would not accept what he described as a “globalist scheme” to control AI, arguing that excessive regulation could prevent the technology from reaching its full potential.

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“We reject the globalist scheme to control AI,” Trump said, adding that he preferred the term “superintelligence” to artificial intelligence.

“Whoever wins AI, whoever wins SI, whoever wins super intelligent wins,” he said, referring to the strategic importance he attaches to the technology. Trump also claimed that the US was ahead of China in AI “by a lot”.

Trump said the technology could transform the global economy on a scale greater than previous technological shifts.

“We're not going to stifle it,” he said, arguing that AI could become “bigger than the industrial revolution, bigger than the internet”. He said the US would continue to monitor the technology closely but would avoid measures that could slow its development.

Trump said the administration would rely on the US Justice Department to watch developments in the sector while encouraging AI companies and researchers to continue expanding the technology.

His remarks come as governments around the world grapple with how to regulate increasingly powerful AI systems, balancing concerns over safety, national security and misinformation with pressure to maintain technological and economic competitiveness.

Trump also used his UN address to criticise what he described as previous predictions of looming crises, citing climate change, the Russia investigation, the Ukraine war and open-border policies. He linked those arguments to his broader warning against restricting AI growth on the basis of forecasts about its potential risks.

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The president's comments placed AI alongside military power, energy and other areas he described as central to US strength. Rather than supporting a common global framework for controlling the technology, Trump argued for continued US development and leadership.

“We will watch it very closely through the Department of Justice,” Trump said, while making clear that his administration's approach would be to encourage AI's expansion rather than “rein it in”.

The speech also underscored the geopolitical dimension Trump attaches to the technology, with his repeated reference to the US lead over China. His “superintelligence” remarks suggested that the competition is not simply about commercial AI systems but about the development of increasingly advanced forms of machine intelligence.

Trump did not set out a detailed regulatory framework for AI in the speech. Instead, his comments focused on preserving US technological leadership, resisting international efforts to impose controls and ensuring that regulation does not, in his view, prevent the technology from developing at its full pace.