The US and China are considering formal talks on AI

The US and China are exploring official talks on artificial intelligence, the Wall Street Journal reports. The topic could come up during the summit between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping scheduled for May 14 and 15 in Beijing. On the US side, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is leading the discussions, while China has so far involved Vice Finance Minister Liao Min.

The two countries are planning regular meetings to discuss risks like unexpected behavior in AI models, autonomous weapons systems, and attacks by non-state actors using open-source tools.

A first round of AI talks began in 2023 under Joe Biden, but yielded few concrete outcomes. According to Rush Doshi, who led the negotiations at the time, Beijing sent its foreign ministry instead of a technical agency, limiting what the talks could accomplish. The two sides did manage to agree in 2024 that humans - not AI - should make decisions about nuclear weapons use. An AI hotline between the two governments is also under discussion.