US task force to report on AI risks and government oversight within 120 days: WSJ

A NEW White House task force will produce a report assessing risks posed by artificial intelligence and what responsibility the US federal government should have over the technology, the Wall Street Journal reported.  

The task force will be led by US director of national intelligence Jay Clayton, who confirmed his role to the paper. The role makes Clayton effectively the Trump administration’s new AI czar, a senior White House official told the Wall Street Journal. 

“The president asked that a group be put together that was going to ensure exactly what he said, which is that we stay the leaders in superintelligence, and that the interests of the American people are put first,” the Journal cited Clayton as saying. 

Despite growing concerns about security risks posed by AI, US President Donald Trump has spurned calls for new regulations. Instead, he has prioritised keeping the US ahead of China and backed a voluntary framework involving outside safety audits and stronger internal controls. 

“We have a very big lead, and we’re going to keep our lead, and it’s a very positive thing,” the president said during a meeting with industry executives on Sep 29.  

The task force has been named the “Super Intelligence Force,” Trump’s preferred name for AI, and will have 120 days to prepare the report, the report said. 

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Separately, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent criticised prominent AI leaders’ warnings about existential risks posed by the technology as alarmist and unhelpful, calling on the industry to police itself and produce solutions.

“It is the people at the labs who have to accept responsibility, and I agree with that,” Bessent said in an Axios interview published on Saturday (Oct 3). “I think the labs have come around to that way of thinking, too”. BLOOMBERG