Washington DC [US}, September 15 : The White House has well and truly embedded itself in the biggest debate surrounding the tech industry, the need to slow the pace of AI development or risk losing control.
Shortly after US President Donald Trump rallied for AI development saying that 'whoever wins AI, wins', David Sacks the President's advisor on technology says that fears that AI is a potential threat to humanity are overblown.
Speaking to CBS News, Sacks firmly put the ball in the AI companies court saying that if they are not able to control the technology they should step aside. 
"First and foremost, it is on them to make their products safe. They should tell us how they should do that. If they can't do that, they should step aside for people who can do that. What they should not be doing is making the public afraid that they're doing a bad job," he told CBS News. 
Sacks believes any potential risks from AI development can be managed and there is no need to bring a pause in development of the technology. 
"Why are you acting like this is something that you can't control? "If you can't control it, then don't do it...Now, look at the end of the day, I think these risks can be managed, and I do not want to stop. I want to proceed safely," Sacks said.
Earlier President Trump had labelled the call to slow the pace of development down as a 'conspiracy' and said that only China seemed to happy about this suggestion. 
"There is a sick conspiracy going on against AI and Data Centres, and the only one that is happy about it is China. WHOEVER WINS AI, WINS! We are leading China, and all others, and will continue to do so. Conspiracy Theorists, Treasonists, Traitors, and Leakers, BEWARE! Thank you for your attention to this matter," he wrote on Truth Social
Sacks who is co-chair of Trump's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and was earlier the President's AI and crypto czar said there was undue panic being brought into the debate by the AI labs. 
"I think this is becoming a panic. We're in an election season, and there is an incentive for political actors to try and amplify the fear. And I think this is a moment to really calm down a little bit and look at the issue rationally," he told CBS News
Earlier in a post on X Sacks criticised the tech companies for the call to slow down saying they should stop pretending they need permission for such a move
"I don’t see what you see in the lab. If the unreleased models are scary enough that you think you should slow down, I support your decision to be responsible. But stop pretending you need anyone else’s permission. Stop pretending antitrust law has to be suspended so you can form a cartel. Stop pretending you need a regulatory approval process that supersedes product liability. Stop pretending METR is independent when it is intertwined with Anthropic’s investors and staff. Stop pretending you need those same evaluators to police competitors who aren’t even at the frontier. Most of all, stop pretending the motivation to slow down is purely altruistic," he wrote on X.
The debate began when Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei publicly called for slowing the pace down has received endorsements from almost all the big tech players with OpenAI's Sam Altman, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Google's Demis Hassabis also backing the call. The affirmation from a senior White House aide who has the President's ear now puts the onus on AI labs to back their call with action.