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president Donald Trump’s Working to establish “the US’s global AI dominance” could create friction from an unlikely source: the “effective altruism” movement, a small but influential group with a darker view of AI.
Trump signed an executive order earlier this year titled “Eliminating barriers to U.S. leadership in artificial intelligence.” This week, he met with top tech industry leaders including Mark Zuckerburg, Bill Gates and others to attend the White House meeting, and in a discussion, AI is imminent. However, not all industry leaders share the president’s vision for the dominance of American AI.
Jason Matheny, a former senior Biden official and currently CEO of Rand Corporation, is the leader of the effective altruism movement, trying among other priorities to regulate the development of artificial intelligence to reduce its risks.
Effective altruism is a charitable social movement that proponents claim to be designed to maximize the good they can do in the world and to give them the most effective charities and interventions calculated. Part of this campaign includes strong donors from many areas, including technology, where funds are poured into battles that the group believes are threatening. Including artificial intelligence.
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U.S. President Donald Trump on July 23, 2025 at Andrew W. Mellon, Washington, DC. (Getty)
Some in the movement also promise to donate a portion of its income, while others argue about the ethics of making as much money as possible in order to give it.
A former Defense Department official familiar with the industry’s leaders told Fox News Digital that he has put forward his vision since speaking at an effective altruism forum in 2017, where Matheny “has been deliberately inserting into the people who share his AI interiorist worldview” and “sharing his AI reception with the roles of government and government contractors.”
“Since then, he has made clear infiltration think tanks, policymakers within government and trusted government contractors, and achieved with this effective altruism, AI philosophy of doom,” the official continued.
A Rand Corporation spokesman opposed the label and said Matheny “considered a broad view and context is crucial to analyzing and informing reasonable public policies. His interest is to encourage talented young people to embrace public services.”
The spokesman added that AI is a “existential threat” that companies are close to AI “not a lens” but said: “Our researchers are extensively studying the many ways AI and the ways that will affect society, including opportunities and threats.”
In his 2017 speech, Matheny discussed his vision of influencing government from both internal and external to promote effective altruistic goals.
“The work I did at IARPA (Advanced Research Project Activities) convinced me that there are many low-key fruits in government positions that we should use as an effective altruist choice. Effective altruism forum In 2017, before continuing to explain even “a fairly junior position,” “waving incredible influence.”
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Jason Matheny is a predecessor to the administration of former President Joe Biden, who has held multiple roles between 2021 and 2022. (Tannen Maury/AFP via Getty Images)
Matheny went on to explain the need for “outside” to “outside” in the form of working for government agencies, specializing in experts in fields such as biology and chemistry, and experts from various think tanks.
“This is another way to have an impact on the government,” Matini said.
Matheny serves as President of Technology and National Security, Deputy Director of National Security at the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Deputy Director of National Security for the National Security Council Technology and National Security Coordinator, Deputy Director of National Security, Deputy Director of National Security, and Deputy Director of National Security, serving as the ideal of philosophy at the Biden White House.
According to Politico, Rand officials were involved in former President Joe Biden’s 2023 executive order “Safe, secure and trustworthy use of artificial intelligence.” The order reflects many effective altruistic goals about AI, such as the idea of “leveraging AI kindness and realizing that its countless benefits need to mitigate its significant risks”. ”
However, a Rand spokesman told Fox News Digital that Matheny did not have “no roles” to produce Biden (EO), but its researchers “do indeed provide technical expertise and analysis to inform EO to respond to policy makers’ demands.”
The order reads: “Responsible use of AI has the potential to help solve urgent challenges while making our world more prosperous, productive, innovative and secure. At the same time, irresponsible use may exacerbate social harms such as fraud, discrimination, bias, bias and false information and false information; replace and deviate from national security;

President Trump has made AI dominance a key part of his agenda. (Omar Marques/sopa Images/Lightrocket/Charly Triballeau/AFP)
Its solution is to add regulations on AI development and to add new government reporting requirements for companies developing the technology. For many in the industry, this is seen as an example of government over-explanation, killing innovation and undermining the ability of the United States to compete with countries such as China.
The order has since been revoked by Trump’s AI order, which was signed in the first few days of his second administration. But as the head of Rand, who is a public policy and research advisory group, Matheny and Rand continue to push their vision for AI regulation and warn of potential pitfalls.
Rand posted social media in recent months Warn AI Will “fundamentally reshape the economics of cybersecurity” and “increasingly using AI chatbots in mental health support, society is deploying pseudotherapists at an unprecedented scale.”
Semafor Report Earlier this year, the Trump administration was linked to AI policy with artificial intelligence company Anthropic Buts Anthropic Buts.
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“It’s hard to tell a clean story of every single actor involved, but at the heart, the Doomerism community that Jason’s really at the heart of, what they are really concerned with is they truly believe about a runaway super-intelligent model that takes over the world like a Terminator scenario,” the former DOD official told Fox News Digital, adding that the fear of Effective Altruists that AI is an “existential threat” has led to their push that is “restrictive” to the “Growth of Technology.”
A Rand spokesman said: “With regard to the Trump administration’s AI policy, many rand analytics focus on key parts of the President’s AI action plan, including our analysis of AI assessments, secure data centers, energy options for AI, cybersecurity and biosecurity.”
“Mr. Matthewney thanked the Trump administration for their views on AI policy that may be different,” the spokesperson continued. “He worked with Rand to contribute expertise and analysis to help the Trump administration shape policy to promote the interests of the United States.”

Senior News Analyst & National Affairs Writer
Prabhat Sharma is a veteran journalist with over 12 years of experience covering national news, current affairs, and breaking stories across India. Known for his analytical approach and in-depth reporting, Prabhat brings clarity to complex topics and delivers content that informs, educates, and empowers readers.
He is passionate about political transparency, policy analysis, and the evolving landscape of Indian journalism.
When he’s not writing, you’ll find him reading non-fiction, watching documentaries, or exploring offbeat destinations