US and China agree to an official AI dialogue days before the Trump-Xi summit
Bessent's proposed notification mechanism for national-security AI incidents is now attached to a standing channel, with chip export controls left out of the talks.
The United States and China have agreed to establish an official AI dialogue, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said after weekend talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in New York. The channel is intended to build transparency between the two countries, and a planned notification mechanism would raise the alarm when AI incidents touch on national security. "We want a shared vision of common goals and common threats," Bessent told reporters. "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." Standing with Bessent at JPMorgan Chase headquarters, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said groundwork had been laid for talks between President Donald Trump and Xi Jinping at the White House on Thursday, and that the two sides had agreed to operationalize a "Board of Trade" the leaders discussed in Beijing in May. "Today those notions have become reality," Greer said. Export restrictions on AI chips were not part of the discussions, and both sides plan another meeting to work out details. Trump continues to reject any deal to slow AI research, arguing a slowdown would help China catch up to U.S. companies.