> Most people would probably say that’s a good thing, if I read the tea leaves correctly.

I'm very pessimistic that this is about AI safety. I think it's probably more about giving the Trump administration leverage over AI companies. It will be able to coerce them into e.g. propagandizing or surveilling or similar or else they will risk the same kind of "regulatory oversight" that caused television networks to fire comedians who made jokes the regime didn't like.

With conservatives, every accusation is an admission. Only the gullible people fall for the actual rhetoric.