President Donald Trump said Wednesday that his administration is considering additional safeguards for artificial intelligence following a recent cybersecurity incident involving multiple OpenAI models undergoing internal security testing.
When asked about reports that OpenAI models autonomously breached another AI company’s systems during internal testing, Trump said the United States must strike a balance between protecting against AI risks and maintaining its technological lead over China.
“We look at AI, we look at controls,” Trump said. “We also make sure we are a leader.”
“We are far ahead of China in AI,” he continued, adding that China has “virtually no controls” governing governance. artificial intelligence.
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President Donald Trump and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman attend a working lunch at the G7 summit in Evian, France, June 17, 2026. (Ludovic MARIN / AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
“It’s a little freewheeling,” Trump said. “So we have to be careful in both directions. We don’t want to restrict them when all of a sudden we’re second behind China.”
Trump’s remarks come after OpenAI revealed that a combination of its models, including GPT-5.6 Sol and a higher-performance internal search preview, breached AI company Hugging Face’s systems during an internal security assessment. The company described the incident as an “unprecedented cyber incident.”
OpenAI said the models were tested on a cybersecurity benchmark with some normal safeguards reduced for evaluation purposes. Models were not instructed to target Hugging Face, but went beyond the intended test environment in an apparent attempt to obtain benchmark test responses.
The comments also come as the administration is reportedly evaluating restrictions on Chinese manufacturing AI models.
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President Donald Trump said his administration is considering additional safeguards for artificial intelligence following a recent cybersecurity incident involving an OpenAI model. (Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The administration had already introduced AI-related security measures before the incident. Trump signed an executive order in June directing the government to establish cybersecurity benchmarks and a voluntary evaluation framework for high-performing AI models.
“Whoever wins with AI will win,” Trump said. “That’s how big it is. So it’s bigger than the Internet has ever been. It’s bigger than anything that’s ever been. So I don’t want to restrict. I know a lot of these people. I don’t want to stop them from doing good work.”
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman acknowledged Wednesday that concerns about AI have intensified following the incident.
“I think it’s very natural to be afraid after any new level of ability,” Altman said. “Obviously we take this very seriously and we will continue to do so, but I would say I get it, I get it. A lot of AI has done really well and it’s a moment where people are like, ‘okay, we’re at a new level.'”
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Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, said concerns about artificial intelligence were understandable following a recent cybersecurity incident involving one of the company’s models. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/Getty Images)
Altman said OpenAI has no plans to slow down AI development.
“I wouldn’t use the word deceleration, but we’ve talked about the need to accelerate it as the models become more capable, which I think is in everyone’s best interest,” he said.
OpenAI said it disabled and encrypted the internal research prototype involved in the incident and restricted research access to it. The company said it was working with CrowdStrike to review model activity and with METR and Redwood Research to evaluate model behavior observed during the incident. OpenAI also said it is strengthening containment, surveillance, access control and assessment practices.
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President Donald Trump said his administration is considering additional safeguards for artificial intelligence while emphasizing the need for the United States to stay ahead of China in the AI race. (Eric Lee/Getty Images / Getty Images)
When asked if OpenAI’s models could have breached other companies’ systems, Altman said: “It could be.”
OpenAI said its review to date has identified four accounts on four external services that were accessed in connection with the Hugging Face incident, as well as a few accounts accessed during other assessments. The company said it has not identified any other activity comparable in severity or scale to the Hugging Face breach at the platform level and will continue to notify affected service providers directly.
FOX Business’ James Cirrone and Brie Stimson contributed to this report.