US and China Discuss AI Risks Amid Trump-Xi Summit

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessenet opened the possibility of discussing AI risks with China, stating Washington will raise shared concerns at a weekend economic meeting in New York.

Bessenet noted one limitation: Washington will not slow its own AI development and still views the technology as a critical competitive area to surpass.

As preparations for the Trump-Xi summit intensify, Bessenet and USTR Jamie Grayer are set to meet Chinese Vice Premier He Rifen for several hours in New York ahead of President Trump's September 24 welcome for Xi Jinping in Washington—a week before the summit.

The agenda includes AI, trade, and rare earths. The meeting aims to address potential fragmentation where countries develop separate AI systems rather than collaborative open models, which are default settings available for public download and reuse.

Both governments have rejected industry calls to slow AI development speed. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei urged competitors to slow advancements in an essay on September 12, but Trump dismissed the call two days later as 'fraudulent.' China's Foreign Ministry labeled slowdown requests as 'fearmongering,' stressing that all parties should promote open and inclusive AI development.

Beincrypto highlighted the divergence in positions: Xi Jinping advocates for a global governance framework based on consensus, while Washington emphasizes speed. A US congressional push to pause advanced AI development remains stalled.