Gipfel in Washington: Der KI-Machtkampf zwischen USA und China

In the days leading up to his meeting with China's President Xi Jinping, US President Donald Trump emphasized that the United States was ahead of China and all other nations in artificial intelligence (AI). Trump stated during his speech at the United Nations General Assembly that he would not regulate AI, as it would grow to be greater than the industrial revolution.

In contrast, Xi warned in July that AI development should not be monopolized by a single country. The discussions between Trump and Xi in Washington on Thursday are expected to focus heavily on AI.

China and the United States are largely responsible for the most advanced AI language models, with 90% of the leading models originating from these two nations. US companies are considered leaders, while Chinese providers have significantly caught up. A meeting between Trump and Xi in Beijing in May discussed the technology, with Trump stating that they may work together on guidelines.

Since then, incidents of runaway US AI models have become public, and tech firms have called for a development pause, warning of a global AI catastrophe.

In a related event, UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged during a UN General Assembly session on Tuesday that decisions on life and death should never be left to machines. Two of the world's most influential AI entrepreneurs, Sam Altman of OpenAI and Dario Amodei of Anthropic, addressed the UN Security Council on Wednesday, advocating for international guidelines and standards. They cited examples of how China's AI models, subject to censorship, fail to provide answers to sensitive topics following the party line.

China's Communist Party remains concerned about losing its power, and Beijing aims to export its model of controlling information, including censoring AI-related queries. This has led China to quickly disseminate its AI labs globally by offering models that are open and inexpensive. Experts believe the differing interests of the US and China make reaching agreement on common AI rules challenging.

The US proposed a "reporting mechanism" for AI incidents to enhance transparency between the two nations during the Trump-Xi G20 Summit. China confirmed the AI dialogue but provided no details, fearing the US would use the forum to restrain China's catch-up efforts. Beijing insisted on a broader AI risk dialogue, including US tech restrictions imposed since October 2022 to slow China's technological and military development.

Chinese State Security Minister Chen Yixin expressed concern that misuse of AI by adversaries could directly threaten China's political, institutional, and ideological security in a statement published last Sunday.