The White House announced that the United States and China had agreed to establish a bilateral channel to address incidents linked to artificial intelligence, as part of understandings covering the management of the technology’s risks and benefits during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington, which concluded on Friday.
Washington and Beijing establish channel for artificial intelligence incidents
The White House said in a fact sheet issued on Friday that the two countries had launched a US-China dialogue on what they described as “superintelligence”, aimed at exchanging views on the risks and benefits associated with artificial intelligence. It added that the two sides had also agreed to establish a channel of communication to deal with incidents in this field.
Artificial intelligence, which US President Donald Trump began referring to as “superintelligence” several days ago, was one of the main issues in the talks he held with Xi during the latter’s visit. The agreement comes as the two countries, which are competing to develop artificial intelligence technologies, face growing criticism over their handling of the technology’s potential risks, following incidents that raised concerns it could escape the control of its creators.
US-China differences over human oversight
Xi said Washington and Beijing had a responsibility to “develop and manage artificial intelligence in the public interest”, while ensuring that its development remained under human oversight at all times. Trump, by contrast, insisted on what he described as the “current level of regulation”, taking a position different from the Chinese president’s view on oversight.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had proposed the previous week establishing a mutual notification mechanism between the two countries for any artificial intelligence incidents linked to national security.
Bessent said that moving from a situation shrouded in uncertainty towards greater transparency between the world’s first and second artificial intelligence powers was of paramount importance.
