U.S., China Agree To Work With U.K. To Protect Against AI Risks

(Bloomberg) -- The US, China and 26 other nations agreed to work together to protect against the potential for artificial intelligence to cause “catastrophic harm,” as government ministers and industry executives met on Wednesday at the UK's global AI Safety summit.

Nations “have stated a shared responsibility to address AI risks and take forward vital international collaboration on frontier AI safety and research,” UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a statement shortly after the 2-day summit opened at Britain's World War II code-breaking center in Bletchley Park, north of London. 

Sunak hailed the agreement as a “landmark achievement” that marks the willingness of the world's greatest AI powers to collaborate on regulating the emerging technology. China's involvement is particularly significant, given fraught relations that exist with western nations over areas like trade, security and human rights. 

The communique sets out a common international approach on the rapidly advancing technology, delivering on a key goal for the British government when it organized the summit. It's the first global meeting on “frontier” AI — the most powerful systems — to bring together business executives with leading politicians, and Sunak is hosting around 100 people from 28 countries. They include US Vice President Kamala Harris, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the world's richest man, Elon Musk. 

Signatories to the joint statement, including Saudi Arabia, the European Union and Japan, vowed to “work together in an inclusive manner to ensure human-centric, trustworthy and responsible AI that is safe, and supports the good of all.”

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China's vice minister of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Wu Zhaohui, joined UK Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and European Commission Vice President of Values and Transparency Věra Jourová on stage to deliver speeches at the summit on Wednesday.

Raimondo said that although nations will “compete vigorously on AI,” but added “we must find global solutions to global problems.”

The US joined the UK in announcing the creation of its own AI safety institute, adding that the two will collaborate together.

China's Wu said his government believes in the importance of AI development and using the technology as a tool to improve productivity and deliver benefits to people. He pointed to a recent announcement from President Xi Jinping regarding a global AI initiative as part of the country's “Belt and Road” development program set out last month.

Earlier, the UK's Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said that Chinese delegates won't attend some sessions at the summit, but that the two countries “share the same risks around AI.”

“Nobody wants some of the most adverse consequences happening, so it's right that we work with China,” Dowden told Bloomberg Television. Nevertheless, he also said that “there are some sessions where we have like-minded countries working together, so it might not be appropriate for China to join.”

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The next AI safety summit will be hosted by South Korea in six months, and then France another six months later, Donelan announced. 

“This is no time to bury our heads in the sand and I believe that we don't just have a responsibility, we also have a duty to act and act now,” she said. “The fruits of this summit must be clear-eyed, understanding routes to collaboration and bold actions to realize AI's benefits whilst mitigating their risks.”

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