Trump called AI existential risk "a HOAX, no different from RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA," and Zvi says he misread the trajectory.

Trump framed the concern as an anti-competitive attack on American data centers benefiting China. Zvi Mowshowitz, writing September 16, admits he had earlier cautioned against reading too much into Trump's initial statements and was wrong, names Jensen Huang as the likely influence on the hardened position, and names David Sacks as having joined "the Usual Suspects" and Zuckerberg as blocking action at Meta. He credits Ron DeSantis, Mike Johnson, Rick Scott and Spencer Cox with constructive Republican engagement. A writer publicly marking their own wrong call is rarer than it should be.