# Trump backs a kill switch (2026): SI History

> Asked whether SI needs safeguards or a kill switch, President Trump says "there should be." From the RSI Encyclopedia, with every source linked.

Source: https://enterrsi.si/encyclopedia/trump-backs-a-kill-switch-2026/
Updated: 2026-11-08

1. [Home](https://enterrsi.si/)
2. [Encyclopedia](https://enterrsi.si/encyclopedia/)
3. Trump backs a kill switch (2026)

RSI Encyclopedia · Event · Apr 2026

# Trump backs a kill switch (2026)

Asked whether SI needs safeguards or a kill switch, President Trump says "there should be."

Date
:   Apr 2026

Type
:   Milestone

Status
:   Happened

Era
:   2026

## What happened

Asked whether SI needs safeguards or a kill switch, President Trump says "there should be."

## Why it matters

The remark brought the kill switch from research papers into presidential politics. Months later California asked state agencies to recommend a frontier model kill switch.

## Source

1. [Future of Life Institute](https://futureoflife.org/statement/trumps-support-for-an-ai-kill-switch/)

## On the timeline

This event is one of 20 milestones on the [RSI timeline](https://enterrsi.si/timeline/), from 1950 to SI building SI.

The event

Date
:   April 15, 2026

Type
:   Timeline milestone

Related terms

[Kill switch **Term**](https://enterrsi.si/encyclopedia/kill-switch/)

Cite this entry

"Trump backs a kill switch (2026)." The RSI Encyclopedia, enterrsi.si, November 8, 2026. https://enterrsi.si/encyclopedia/trump-backs-a-kill-switch-2026/

Free to cite under CC BY 4.0 with a link to enterrsi.si.

The RSI Encyclopedia

## Keep reading

207 entries on the terms, labs, models, laws and events of rogue SI, plus every case in the Rogue Incident Database.

[Previous event Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies (2014)](https://enterrsi.si/encyclopedia/superintelligence-paths-dangers-strategies-2014/)[Next event The UN declaration on SI control (2026)](https://enterrsi.si/encyclopedia/the-un-declaration-on-si-control-2026/)

Enter RSI

## Every term, lab, model and law

Browse the full A to Z index, filter by category or search for a name.

[Open the encyclopedia](https://enterrsi.si/encyclopedia/)
[Incident Database](https://enterrsi.si/incidents/)
[Containment Board](https://enterrsi.si/containment-board/)