The United States and China are preparing to hold their first official discussions on artificial intelligence under President Donald Trump in September.
Led by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the meeting is expected to take place before Chinese President Xi Jinping visits the U.S. on September 24.
Guardrails and safety goals
The two nations agreed to start these official talks after a summit in May. Both powers want to address major safety risks including cyberattacks and military uses of AI.
Explaining the main purpose of the negotiations, Secretary Bessent stated that future discussions would be “aimed at halting the spread of powerful AI models to non-state actors.”
High stakes and technical focus
While Washington focuses on national security, Beijing wants deep technical discussions rather than political debates. China is also closely tracking U.S. chip restrictions and potential bans on Chinese software.
Highlighting the practical goals for the meeting, expert Paul Triolo noted, “I think they will try to agree to some basic terms like what defines a frontier AI model.”
Tensions over open AI models
Tensions are rising as low-cost Chinese AI models quickly gain traction worldwide. Warning against China’s public sharing of AI code, former White House adviser Dean Ball argued that Beijing’s open approach could lead to “full AI communism” powered by government data centers.
Meanwhile, President Trump previously described the renewed diplomatic effort as a necessary attempt to build “guard rails” around rapid AI advancement.
