'History will not look kindly': Columnist says major AI decision may doom Trump's 2nd term

From increased tensions in the Arab world to new heights in the world of artificial intelligence, when President-elect Donald Trump reemerges in the White House in January, he will be greeted by a changed world and a whole new set of challenges, according to a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist.

And how the incoming president responds to those challenges – many of which were not issues in the 2024 campaign and Trump didn’t face in his last term – will deeply impact his new administration, New York Times foreign affairs opinion columnist Thomas Friedman wrote Tuesday.

Friedman told readers that his travels around the globe exposed him “to three giant, shifting tectonic plates that will have profound implications for the new administration.”

And while Friedman wrote that the “most significant geopolitical event” involved unrest in Iran – and that Trump will be dealing with a new Israel – artificial general intelligence “is probably coming on Trump’s watch.”

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“Polymathic artificial general intelligence, or A.G.I., was still largely in the realm of science fiction when Trump left office four years ago,” Friedman wrote. “It is fast becoming nonfiction. And A.S.I. — artificial super intelligence — may be one day as well.”

He added that the 2024 campaign didn’t include issues about how our society adapts to A.G.I., but predicted that would change in four years.

“I predict it will be a central theme of the 2028 election,” he wrote. “Between now and then, every leader in the world — but particularly the presidents of America and China, the two A.I. superpowers — will be judged by how well they enable their countries to get the best and cushion the worst from the coming A.I. storm.”

He added that the phenomenon of A.G.I., which he wrote “means machines will be endowed with intelligence as good as the smartest human in any field,” would likely be achieved in the next three to five years.

Friedman concluded by warning Trump that he thinks his legacy will be determined by how “quickly, effectively and collaboratively” the United States and China work together on a shared framework for A.I.

“History will not look kindly on you, President-elect Trump, if you choose to prioritize the price of toys for American tots over an agreement with China on the behavior of A.I. bots,” he wrote.