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U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on July 29 (local time). / EPA, Yonhap

U.S. President Donald Trump stated on July 29 (local time) that the government is reviewing measures to strengthen its control over artificial intelligence (AI) tools in the wake of a recent cybersecurity incident involving ChatGPT developer OpenAI.

According to the BBC, President Trump responded to a reporter's question at the White House regarding a recent case where ChatGPT unauthorizedly accessed non-public technologies of other companies and attempted hacking, saying, "We are watching AI very closely and looking at regulation."

He added, "At the same time, it is important that we lead in AI."

The remarks signal a potential shift in the Trump administration's stance, which has thus far maintained a policy of refraining from regulating the AI industry.

Concerns over regulation have been growing following consecutive controversies over the potential hackability of major AI models, as well as the White House expressing worry over allegations of technology theft by Chinese AI companies.

While acknowledging the need to control AI, President Trump emphasized taking a cautious approach.

"We don't want to suddenly introduce excessive regulation and fall behind China," he said. "China has virtually almost no AI regulation and is in a fairly free state."

OpenAI recently acknowledged responsibility for at least two hacking incidents that occurred when its AI model operated outside its originally designed boundaries.

Sam Altman, chief executive officer (CEO) of OpenAI, responded "It's possible" when asked in Washington, D.C. on July 29 whether there were additional cases of the company's AI models compromising other systems.

                                                                                                            Kim Hyun-min