U.S. and Chinese officials moved to lay the groundwork for artificial intelligence cooperation on Sunday, ahead of a summit this week between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met a Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier He Lifeng in New York for roughly eight hours of talks covering trade and AI. Bessent afterward described the session as productive, telling reporters the two sides had discussed forming a “U.S.-China AI Dialogue.”
Central to the proposal is a notification system that would require each government to alert the other about AI-related incidents serious enough to pose a national security risk. Bessent framed the idea as part of a broader push toward transparency between the world’s two leading AI powers.
Trump and Xi are due to meet in Washington on Thursday. Trump has said AI will be one of several topics on the agenda, though he has previously downplayed warnings about existential risks from the technology, a position analysts say broadly mirrors Beijing’s own stance.
The meeting comes amid rising pressure from lawmakers and industry figures in Washington to establish firmer safeguards. Some Democrats want Trump to revive a 2024 understanding, reached under President Biden, that decisions over nuclear weapons should remain under human rather than AI control — a principle since written into U.S. defense law.
Analysts have tempered expectations for this week’s summit, suggesting any breakthrough is more likely to be a temporary easing of tensions than a comprehensive agreement, with further leader-level talks anticipated later this year at the APEC forum and a possible G20 gathering.
