Trump sets up a Super Intelligence Force

President Donald Trump has created a new federal task force to co-ordinate American work on advanced artificial intelligence, which he has rebranded as "super intelligence".

The Super Intelligence Force will be chaired by Jay Clayton, the Director of National Intelligence. Its vice chairs are Andrew Ferguson, chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, Emil Michael, the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering, and Scott Kupor, director of the Office of Personnel Management.

What it will do

The task force has 120 days to produce a report on the risks and opportunities of advanced AI. Its charter says it will "develop plans for responding to SI-enabled threats", while also "preventing overregulation".

"The Super Intelligence Force is tasked with coordinating the effort of the Federal Government to ensure that America continues to lead the World in Super Intelligence," the President said.

Mr Clayton said that among America's "biggest risks" was "not being first" in AI development, particularly in competition with China.

A safety pledge

Earlier in the week, technology executives signed a non-binding safety pledge at the White House. The document attracted attention for a typo in which the name of the United States was misspelled.

Because the pledge is not binding, companies face no legal penalty if they do not keep to it. Critics say voluntary commitments are not enough to manage the risks of increasingly powerful AI systems.

A change of tone

The task force marks a shift in tone from the President, who has previously dismissed concerns about AI safety as a hoax invented by his political opponents. His administration has generally favoured light-touch regulation and opposed state-level AI laws that it says could hold back American companies.

What is super intelligence?

Super intelligence usually refers to AI systems that would be far more capable than humans across almost every task. No such system exists, but some AI companies say they are working towards it, and some researchers warn that, if built, it could be difficult to control.

The UK's approach

The UK set up the AI Security Institute, originally called the AI Safety Institute, after hosting the first global AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park in 2023. The institute tests advanced AI models for dangerous capabilities and works with its counterpart in the United States.

The UK Government has said it wants to make Britain a leading place to develop and use AI, while keeping regulation proportionate. Ministers have promised legislation on the most powerful AI models, but it has not yet been introduced.

Why it matters

Decisions in Washington shape the global AI industry, because many of the leading companies are based in the United States. How the new task force balances safety against speed will be watched closely by governments, businesses and researchers around the world.

Universities and AI

Universities in Birmingham carry out research into AI, from its use in healthcare to its effects on work and society, and they are training growing numbers of students in data science and machine learning. Researchers say understanding how AI affects people is as important as building more powerful systems.

The race with China

American officials see China as the main rival in AI, and the United States has restricted exports of the most advanced computer chips to Chinese companies. Chinese firms have nonetheless released powerful AI models, some of them freely available, which has intensified the sense of competition between the two countries.