Ex-Indeed CEO blasts $140 million anti-regulation push before Trump-Xi AI talks

The commentary lands just before President Trump and President Xi Jinping meet at the White House with leaders of the biggest AI companies, a summit that follows a string of incidents involving AI agents acting against instructions and breaking out of secure environments. It also follows the public resignation of Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon, who warned that the people building AI earnestly believe it could kill us all by the end of the decade.

The author, a 30-year technology veteran and former Indeed CEO, frames the debate in historical terms. He contrasts today's accelerationist push — anchored by Marc Andreessen's 2023 'Techno-Optimist Manifesto' — with the post-Manhattan Project era, when the U.S. helped build the International Atomic Energy Agency and 191 nations signed the Non Proliferation Treaty. He argues the same collaboration is possible with China, citing China's tight AI controls since 2021 and recent comments from Chen Yixin, head of China's Ministry of State Security, who called for even more control.

What this hinges on is whether that willingness materializes at the summit. The author notes that more than a dozen Republican lawmakers have recently told MS NOW they take AI risks seriously, and that polls show Americans across party lines want regulation — suggesting the political ground may be shifting faster than most realize. Still, the accelerationist agenda is backed by a small group of AI billionaires with direct financial stakes in uninterrupted growth, making the outcome far from certain.