China rebuffs AI slowdown calls before Trump-Xi talks

China has rejected calls from prominent US tech leaders to decelerate artificial intelligence (AI) advancement, escalating tensions over safety, access to advanced chips, and technological competition prior to forthcoming meetings between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington. Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun stated on Monday that AI is a pivotal technology for humanity and should be developed openly and collectively.

When asked about pleas from Dario Amodei, Sam Altman, and Elon Musk for companies to slow down frontier AI development, Guo cautioned that "fear-mongering, confrontation, and vicious competition" could impede effective global AI governance. This reaction unfolded as the debate over AI safety in Washington evolved into a strategic argument concerning China.

Dario Amodei, the CEO of Anthropic, has advocated for stricter safeguards for advanced systems and argued that a Chinese lead in frontier AI could pose national security risks for the United States. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, and Elon Musk have likewise called for stronger precautions as systems become more capable. President Trump, however, has resisted proposals that could significantly impede US development, asserting that America already possesses tools to regulate the industry and emphasizing the importance of maintaining its leadership over China.

House Speaker Mike Johnson also dismissed a moratorium, claiming that any pause could provide Beijing a competitive edge and introduce national security risks. The dispute over AI governance is anticipated to be one of the key topics in the Trump-Xi summit scheduled for September 24 in Washington. Additionally, the meeting is expected to address trade disputes, semiconductor limitations, and China's restrictions on rare-earth exports, all of which influence the broader contest over computing power and advanced manufacturing.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is scheduled to meet with Vice-Premier He Lifeng prior to the summit. China has advocated for an alternative AI governance framework, emphasizing accessibility, development, and multilateral rules while opposing measures viewed as technological containment. At the recent BRICS summit, Xi proposed an open-source and inclusive AI initiative, pledging China's contribution to the establishment of a BRICS AI open-source community and digital ecosystem platform.

Despite acknowledging the risks associated with increasingly potent systems, Chinese officials have called for enhanced global governance and risk awareness, while arguing that safety should not serve as a rationale for preventing technological dissemination. The government has also backed the creation of the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, whose founding agreement was signed in Shanghai in July by 29 nations.

The debate over safety is intricately connected to semiconductor controls. The United States has maintained export restrictions on advanced computing technology to China, although the Commerce Department revised applications for Nvidia H200, AMD MI325X, and similar chips to a case-by-case review under specified security conditions in January.

China has repeatedly criticized US technology limitations as discriminatory and has threatened retaliatory measures when Chinese enterprises are targeted. China's Commerce Ministry last week also challenged a US cybersecurity advisory accusing Chinese AI companies of engaging in distillation campaigns against American models, asserting that China is prepared for an intergovernmental AI dialogue with the United States but would respond if Washington utilized such allegations to suppress Chinese firms.

This exchange highlights the difficulty in separating AI safety from the strategic rivalry. Both US officials and technology executives now view advanced models as both commercial assets and national security capabilities, while China portrays extensive restrictions as attempts to preserve US dominance. There are areas of agreement between the two governments, with both recognizing that advanced AI poses risks necessitating governance, and the two sides have pledged to launch an intergovernmental dialogue on the technology.

Informal discussions among researchers and policy specialists have continued, albeit official stances remain significantly divergent on access to chips, model controls, and the equilibrium between safety and development. The September 24 summit follows President Trump's May visit to China, during which the two leaders agreed to pursue "strategic stability" and establish new bilateral trade and investment mechanisms.

Although AI was not a central focus of those agreements, it has since risen in prominence on the bilateral agenda as concerns regarding model capabilities, export controls, and industrial competition have intensified.