Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton: Super intelligence is a national security issue

Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton said Wednesday that "super intelligence is a national security issue," while brushing aside questions about whether President Donald Trump would ask him to become the AI "czar" and if he would accept.

Clayton, in an interview with CNBC's "Squawk Box," also argued against pausing U.S. companies' development of artificial intelligence models, despite leaders of some of those same companies calling for a slowdown because of fears about the technology's risks.

And he suggested that federal agencies, including the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, are best suited to policing AI companies, and not the civil tort system.

Clayton spoke a day after Trump met at the White House with leaders of top tech companies, including AI giants Anthropic and OpenAI. Trump said he and the executives agreed that the industry would "self-police," and take responsibility for developing their technology safely.

"Super intelligence is a national security issue, and that was something that was recognized yesterday by not just the industry leaders but everybody in the room," Clayton said Wednesday, using Trump's now-preferred term for AI. "The commitment there to the American people and the safety and security of the American people was palpable throughout the meeting."

"I don't even know what a pause is, but to, in some way, not try to drive forward inside the United States, with companies that are regulated in the United States ... to somehow say we should back away from this and let the rest of the world develop these models and implement these models?" Clayton said.

"I don't think anybody in that room, and I don't think any American, should think that that's a good strategy," Clayton said, referring to Trump's meeting at the White House.

Asked about criticism by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who on Tuesday called Trump's suggestion for self-regulation by the AI industry "a recipe for disaster," Clayton said, "My response to the American people on that front is we have a Federal Trade Commission, we have a Department of Justice."

"I know the leaders of both those organizations, and they're committed to protecting the American people in this regard," he said.

Clayton twice avoided directly answering whether he would accept the additional role of Trump's AI czar if the president offered it to him. Clayton already oversees 18 elements of the U.S. intelligence community as DNI.