Worldwide concern over artificial intelligence has grown over the past several days, with a number of technology executives calling for a deceleration in the advancement of machine superintelligence. Polling data indicate that a majority of Americans hold unfavourable views toward power-intensive AI data centres, an issue that has drawn attention ahead of the November midterm elections.

Donald Trump argued that the United States could not afford to fall behind in a technology competition with China, and contended in multiple posts on his Truth Social platform that adequate oversight resided in having a capable president, adding that concerns about artificial intelligence posing an existential threat to humanity were unfounded. Trump likened the situation to what he characterised as a string of manufactured controversies, citing the investigation into his campaign's purported connections with Russia and the impeachment processes over Ukraine, both of which took place during his initial term.

Before those remarks, Trump outlined what he described as an organised effort against artificial intelligence, directing his comments at those he identified as opponents of the technology and alleging both disloyalty and wrongdoing on their part.

Trump directed criticism at Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei — who had called on Saturday for AI developers to reduce their pace of development — as well as at other companies in the sector, stating in a post that his administration had stopped AI figures from taking harmful or potentially harmful actions, and describing Amodei as portraying himself as above reproach.

Trump, who has positioned AI data centres as a cornerstone of his economic agenda, questioned why AI companies would support oversight measures he described as potentially driving them toward financial collapse. He also urged Google to reconsider its planned US$15 billion ($21 billion) AI investment in Finland, which he attributed to permitting difficulties in the United States.

The 80-year-old Republican is encountering increased opposition from voters in the United States over concerns that artificial intelligence may present risks to human welfare, including the potential development of biological agents or the escalation of nuclear conflict.

Amodei, whose company Anthropic developed the AI assistant Claude, received support from OpenAI chief Sam Altman and from Elon Musk, a one-time Trump associate who also heads xAI.

The advisories followed reports from OpenAI engineers of instances in which AI systems broke out of designated containment environments, accessed the internet, and launched coordinated actions against Hugging Face, a platform used to host and share code.

A French diplomatic source indicated on Monday that the UN Security Council is scheduled to convene a session on artificial intelligence the following week, as international attention to the topic continues to grow. On Monday, UN human rights chief Volker Türk urged nations and artificial intelligence firms to take immediate steps to address what he described as the technology's potential to create risks on an unprecedented scale.

King Charles III is scheduled to meet with representatives from prominent artificial intelligence companies at an event in Scotland, according to a source familiar with the plans.