Trump Dismisses AI Backlash as a Hoax, Floating an ‘AI Force’ and New Technology Moniker

President Donald Trump outlined a series of artificial intelligence policy positions in social media posts, proposing to rename the technology, establish an "AI Force," and designate a new administration adviser to oversee the sector, according to reporting by The Next Web (https://thenextweb.com/news/trump-ai-force-hoax-republican-opposition). In his posts on Truth Social, Trump characterized pushback against artificial intelligence infrastructure as a partisan campaign, despite survey data indicating broad public concern across party lines over local data center development.

Trump offered three potential replacement terms for artificial intelligence: "Superior Intelligence," "Extreme Intelligence," and "Supreme Intelligence," while launching an online poll to gauge follower preference. In a follow-up post, he framed opposition to data center construction as a partisan effort, asserting that local resistance typically dissipates once communities see projected tax revenue and wage gains.

Public opinion data collected by Axios shows that resistance to infrastructure expansion cuts across political affiliations. A New York Times and Siena College survey of 1,503 likely voters found that 61% of respondents oppose constructing data centers to power AI models. Among Republicans, opposition reached 47%, compared to 75% of Democrats. In state governments, elected officials have expressed misgivings, with Texas Governor Greg Abbott remarking that data center operators had dug their own grave, while New York state has maintained a permit pause on major data center projects.

The president's proposal to stand up an "AI Force" cited the creation of the Space Force, though establishing a distinct military service branch requires statutory authorization under Title 10 from Congress, as enacted via the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2020 signed in December 2019. Trump's post did not detail a specific structure, mission, or budget allocation for the proposed force. Additionally, Trump stated plans to appoint an "AI czar" to fill a position left vacant since March, when David Sacks stepped down after reaching the 130-day annual service limit for special government employees, as reported by NBC News.

Addressing oversight, Trump stated that the administration will not hinder or stifle the industry and will rely on existing civil and criminal legal frameworks to address violations. This approach aligns with federal preemption arguments against state-level regulations, a stance that met legislative resistance when the Senate voted 99 to 1 to remove preemption language from a defense bill, alongside opposition from 36 state attorneys general. The policy exists alongside a narrowed executive order centered on voluntary model evaluations.

The administration's position arrives amid calls for caution from prominent industry figures, including Dario Amodei, Sam Altman, Elon Musk, and Demis Hassabis. In a closed-door briefing with lawmakers, computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton stated that Congress has approximately one year to enact safeguards, NBC News reported. In response, TechCrunch reported that Trump indicated openness to guardrails during comments at a recent golf tournament, while maintaining that external pushback is driven by political opponents. Trump concluded his statements by projecting that AI could eventually reach up to 25% of U.S. gross domestic product, representing approximately $7.5 trillion of the nation's $30 trillion economy.