{
  "id": 7533298,
  "title": "What smart people are saying about China’s role in ‘pacing the frontier’",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/15/what-smart-people-are-saying-about-chinas-role-in-pacing-the-frontier",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-15T10:28:12.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Business Insider",
    "slug": "business-insider",
    "url": "https://www.businessinsider.com/china-ai-slow-down-role-risks-reaction-anthropic-dario-amodei-2026-9"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "China has become a focal point in the ongoing debate surrounding AI leadership and safety, with Chinese President Xi Jinping prioritizing AI development as a national goal. This has sparked discussions among investors, policymakers, and experts regarding the implications of AI development for global competition between the US and China.\n\nRecent comments from China's top intelligence official have added a new dimension to the debate, warning of major risks associated with advanced AI and the need for stronger oversight. This comes on the heels of Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei advocating for a slowdown in the development of powerful AI models to ensure safety can keep pace, while still striving to maintain a US lead over China through measures such as export controls and enhanced AI security.\n\nExperts are divided on how best to address the issue. Kenton Thibaut, a senior China fellow at the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab, believes that a sweeping agreement between the US and China on AI development remains unlikely due to differing concerns about AI safety being used as a tool for preserving technological dominance. Instead, she suggests a more limited approach to cooperation, focusing on preventing AI misuse by nonstate actors and developing technical systems to monitor risks and respond to emergencies.\n\nMizuho analysts argue that efforts to slow AI development without global coordination are unlikely to succeed, as unilateral guardrails could allow China to close the gap with US frontier models while advancing their own computing capabilities. Yishan Wong, former Reddit CEO, emphasizes the importance of US-China cooperation on AI development, drawing a parallel to historical arms control agreements. However, he also cautions that the US should take the lead in bridging the gap, rather than demanding China halt its progress.\n\nOther experts, such as Chris McGuire from the Council on Foreign Relations and Arnaud Bertrand, an entrepreneur and author, offer differing perspectives on the issue. McGuire suggests that the US must either strengthen export controls or allow American AI labs to advance with fewer domestic safety restrictions to maintain its lead. Bertrand, on the other hand, disputes the notion that China is close to the frontier, arguing that China's reliance on US models and lack of leading-edge chips indicate a significant distance remains between the two nations in AI development.",
  "summary": "China has become central to the debate over slowing frontier AI as safety concerns collide with US-China rivalry.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}