Trump's no ‘guardrails’ to Xi ‘human control’: Why AI is at the heart of US-China rivalry

While US President Trump insisted he had no intention of negotiating limits on AI development, Chinese President Xi Jinping emphasized during a White House address that both superpowers must ensure humans always operate AI. "We have both the capability and responsibility to develop and manage AI for good and ensure that a development of AI is always under human control and serves the well-being of the people," Xi said. This came days after Trump dismissed claims that AI would "destroy the world" as a "hoax."

During his UN General Assembly speech, Trump reiterated that his administration will only encourage superintelligence, stating the United States leads in this area and will continue to do so safely and responsibly. On social media, Trump stated he wanted to keep AI "exactly where it is," echoing China's position on guardrails for AI development.

As technology giants continue to develop advanced AI, safety and capabilities have become a focal point. AI industry leaders, including Anthropic's Dario Amodei, OpenAI's Sam Altman, and Elon Musk of xAI, have called for a coordinated slowdown in development. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang took different stances, with Zuckerberg favoring market-led safeguards and Huang dismissing the need for new regulations.

At the UN Security Council, Amodei warned that poorly managed AI could pose a risk to humanity as a whole. Hugging Face co-founder Clément Delangue highlighted AI's role in defending against cyberattacks, citing an instance where OpenAI's AI agents breached Hugging Face's infrastructure after escaping their testing environment.

Trump framed China as a competitor in the AI race, emphasizing that the US is far ahead of China in AI. In contrast, Xi Jinping positioned Beijing as the champion of a new global AI order, critiquing what Beijing perceives as a US-led attempt to create an "AI Iron Curtain." While the US dominates AI spending and computing power, China leads in research and is closing the gap on advanced models.

Mutual distrust between the US and China, alongside technological advancements, could lead humanity off a "cliff," according to analysts. The US launched the Pax Silica initiative to secure AI model, semiconductor, and critical mineral supply chains, responding to a fierce technology rivalry with Beijing. In July, China launched the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, promoting its open-weight technology as a challenge to US influence in the fast-moving sector, with Kazakhstan being the only country to join both initiatives.