President Donald Trump says fears of artificial intelligence “taking over the World, destroying Humanity” are a hoax. He also says the only guardrail AI needs is a “strong and smart” president, and that the federal government already has “tremendous criminal and regulatory power” over AI companies.

Take that argument seriously. If Washington does not need a new AI regulator, then the next question is operational rather than philosophical: When an AI system is restricted after an incident, who gets to restore its authority, and on what evidence?