Artificial intelligence is at a critical juncture over whether to impose “guardrails” or forge ahead, with North Carolina among the forefronts of the global debate. President Donald Trump, slated to be in Gastonia Wednesday night to rally support for Republican Michael Whatley’s U.S. Senate bid, is resisting AI guardrails, saying in a Truth Social post that the only control AI needs is a “STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT.” Trump also said Monday the U.S. must win the global AI race, especially against China, and called opposition to AI data centers and efforts to curtail AI development “a sick conspiracy.” Some AI technology chiefs, including Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, are calling for guardrails and more measured rollouts. Democratic lawmakers and 2026 candidates, including North Carolina U.S. Senate candidate Roy Cooper, favor government AI regulations and moratoriums on AI data center developments. Concerns about AI data centers include noise, land-use, energy and water consumption; speakers at Monday’s Pitt County Board of Commissioners meeting sought a local moratorium. There are more than 275 AI data center moratoriums nationwide, according to Interconnected Capital LLC. North Carolina Democratic Gov. Josh Stein is calling on state utility regulators to codify Duke Energy data center energy promises.