Former President Barack Obama sharply criticized President Donald Trump's approach to artificial intelligence, calling for stronger federal regulation of a technology he said is advancing faster than the government can respond. Speaking at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, Obama said the current administration has shown neither the capacity nor the willingness to build a serious regulatory framework.
«The challenge we have is that, obviously, we have a president currently that has said that's for losers,» Obama said. «So we've got a gap of at least a couple of years, where things are moving really fast, and we have an administration that is not capable of or willing to — I would argue both — putting together a serious regulatory framework.»
The remarks expanded on a warning Obama issued privately the previous week, when he urged Democrats to make artificial intelligence a central political issue. His public comments at the university's Family Weekend event marked an escalation of that message, placing the debate over AI oversight directly into the partisan arena.
Obama argued that relying on companies' financial incentives and the threat of lawsuits is insufficient to manage the risks posed by increasingly capable AI systems. He rejected the argument, which he attributed to one of Trump's main advisors, that the market will solve safety problems because companies have every incentive to avoid liability.
«That's not how we treat airlines! Or drug companies, or food companies,» Obama said, adding: «[The] government has to be regulating this!»
The White House has pursued its own AI policy framework, one focused heavily on encouraging development and limiting regulations it considers burdensome. In March, the administration unveiled a national legislative framework addressing child safety, free speech, workforce issues and energy costs while calling for a consistent national approach to AI policy. In June, Trump signed a national security directive ordering agencies to accelerate adoption of advanced AI while requiring systems used in national security settings to be «robust, steerable, controllable» and subject to clear lines of accountability.
The debate shifted again when Trump announced the creation of an «AI Force» and said he plans to appoint an AI czar, reiterating that his administration would resist efforts to slow development as the United States competes with China. «We will not in any way hinder or stifle the Growth of this incredible Industry,» Trump said in a lengthy post on Truth Social.
Amy Kremer, an RNC member and chairwoman of Humans First, told Fox News Digital that policymakers should recognize AI's risks without handing greater control to Washington or the technology companies themselves. She said she likely disagrees with Obama on what government should do about it.
«The answer isn't handing Washington bureaucrats more control, and it certainly isn't allowing Big Tech to write the rules that govern itself,» Kremer said. «We need guardrails that protect Americans while allowing American innovation to lead the world. That means protecting children, workers and our national security, while making sure China doesn't win the AI race.»
Kremer also said Obama was «directing his criticism at the wrong branch of government,» arguing that it is Congress, not the president, that must write laws. She called for serious guardrails but said the issue should not become another partisan fight over Trump or Obama, and urged Republicans to lead with a framework that preserves innovation, respects states' rights and local control, and holds Big Tech accountable.
«Voluntary commitments from the AI companies themselves are not sufficient,» Kremer said. «The companies developing the most powerful technology in the world cannot also be the only ones deciding whether that technology is safe.»
The disagreement has intensified as executives inside the AI industry themselves call for additional safeguards. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei urged companies last week to slow the pace of improvements to frontier models, while OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Elon Musk expressed support for greater caution.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not immediately hear back.