Eric Schmidt praises Trump's stance on artificial intelligence: "America will win the race"

The former CEO of Google, Eric Schmidt, praised U.S. President Donald Trump's stance on artificial intelligence, considering that Trump's vision of U.S. dominance in this field represents a clear direction towards enhancing American technological leadership globally.

Schmidt said in an interview with Sky News Arabia during the Future Investment Initiative in the Saudi capital Riyadh, that "Trump has taken a clear stance by saying that America will win the artificial intelligence race," pointing out that Europeans "lack the capital markets and chips necessary to achieve this dominance, and therefore superiority must come from America."

Schmidt explained that the United States "is currently leading the race thanks to its deep financial markets that enable companies to raise trillions of dollars to invest in technology," praising the ability of American companies to develop complex technical solutions quickly and efficiently.

In contrast, Schmidt downplayed the speed at which China is catching up with the United States in the field of artificial intelligence, explaining that "Beijing lacks the depth of capital markets and advanced technology for chip manufacturing," despite following a "different strategy focused on making businesses more efficient through artificial intelligence." He added: "I believe that America will win the intelligence race, but China may excel in execution, which poses a challenge for Washington."

Artificial intelligence is a job creator, not a destroyer

Schmidt disagreed with the prevailing opinion about the impact of artificial intelligence on the labor market, stating that the rise of this technology "will be a job creator, not a destroyer." He added: "Estimates that talk about losing a billion jobs over the next decade due to artificial intelligence are likely incorrect."

He explained that artificial intelligence "increases efficiency and productivity, as companies only implement these systems to achieve greater profits, and these profits are reinvested in the economy to generate more jobs." He continued: "Yes, there will be jobs that disappear, but for every job eliminated, more than one is created."

Criticism of American immigration policies

In a separate context, Schmidt criticized American immigration policies, describing them as "a mistake that has persisted for decades." He said: "More than half of Silicon Valley companies were founded by immigrants, like Sergey Brin, the Google founder born in Russia. Imagine if his father had not been allowed to enter America."

Schmidt warned that tightening restrictions on scientific immigration "harms the future of American innovation," emphasizing that the United States "must attract exceptional minds and provide them with educational and work opportunities, and keep them within the country." He added: "It is unreasonable to train a Chinese physicist in our universities and then send him back to establish a competing company in his country — and that is exactly what is happening today."