US and China to seek 'AI dialogue' to communicate shared concerns

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that in talks with Chinese officials on Sunday, the two sides discussed setting up a way to communicate about AI issues called the "US-China AI dialogue."

“We want a shared vision of common goals and common threats,” Bessent told reporters after talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in New York.

“We think that just like any cross-border activity, that moving from opaque to more transparency between the No. 1 and the No. 2 AI powers in the world is very important.”

"The US has proposed that we have a notification mechanism between the two countries," Bessent said.

Such notifications are for potential "incidents," or a situation "that rises up to a national security level from AI," he said, adding that both sides have agreed to meet again.

The talks were a prelude to a planned White House meeting on Thursday between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

They said the two sides had agreed to operationalise a new “Board of Trade” that the two leaders had discussed when they met in Beijing in May.

It comes as both powers confront rising fears that increasingly capable artificial intelligence systems could wipe out humanity, offering a rare incentive for cooperation despite an intensifying race for technological supremacy.

Trump has resisted calls to slow down AI development, saying that would help China catch up to US companies.

Chinese state media described the meetings as "candid, in-depth, and constructive" on Monday.

"The two sides engaged in... discussions on key economic and trade issues of mutual interest, such as implementing the consensus from previous consultations and promoting bilateral trade and investment," Xinhua news agency said in a brief readout.

Chinese and US officials also held a dialogue on "issues related to AI", Xinhua added, without giving any further details.