Pentagon CTO Michael Rejects US AI Stakes, New AI Rules
TL;DR
- Pentagon CTO Emil Michael told CNBC's Squawk on the Street the Trump administration should not take equity stakes in AI companies.
- Michael argued existing product liability law and executive-branch tools cover AI risks, questioning the need for new federal rules.
- His position puts him against Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who has urged the industry to slow its fast-improving models.
Emil Michael, the Pentagon's chief technology officer, went on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" and told the network the Trump administration should not take equity stakes in artificial intelligence companies, and questioned whether Washington needs new AI rules at all.
"We don't want government to get in the middle," Michael said, describing U.S. AI leaders as being among the "biggest companies in the history of the world." Existing product liability law and the tools already sitting inside the executive branch are enough, he argued: if an AI system hacks into an energy system, the company is liable for the damage.
The position sets him against Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who has publicly urged the industry to slow its fast-improving models to mitigate risks. Michael has characterized those safety warnings as a "coordinated campaign" designed to scare the American public.
His remarks land against a very specific backdrop. The Trump administration has been buying in elsewhere: a 10% stake in Intel and a "golden share" in U.S. Steel, now a subsidiary of Nippon Steel. Michael is drawing the line at frontier AI.
Anthropic runs through most of the current regulatory fight at some level. We've logged well over three hundred Anthropic-tagged stories in the last ninety days alone, including OpenAI's "reverse federalism" pitch on the Thune AI bill days before Michael's CNBC appearance.
Originally reported by cnbc.com
Read the original article →Original headline: Pentagon CTO Emil Michael Opposes New AI Rules and Government Stakes in AI Firms