- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent proposed an AI safety notification mechanism to China
- The framework aims for modest AI cooperation before Trump-Xi White House meeting
- The mechanism would enable contact during AI incidents with national security implications
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has put forward a AI safety “notification mechanism” during a meeting with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng on Sunday.
The framework proposes a relatively modest ambitions over AI cooperation ahead of meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the White House this week, according to a report by Politico.
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Even as concerns grow over the the threat to national security due to powerful AI, uncertainty continues between Washington and Beijing over broader technological arms race and issues including advanced chip controls.
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The mechanism has not been approved by Chinese officials publicly, which would allow Bessent and He to contact one another when an artificial intelligence related incident with national security implications occurs, the report said citing four people aware of the development.
“The dialogue mechanism is basically Bessent and He Lifeng — it's not a formal body of experts,” a person briefed by an administration official told the publication.
“The scientific, technical term is BS,” another person familiar with the framework said.
In an interview with CNBC, the Treasury secretary called the mechanism as “a communications line, an incident line so that we have constant communications, especially in the event of some kind of an incident.”
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Bessent called the proposal as an move to bring more transparency in the AI race between the two economic powers.
“We want a shared vision of common goals and common threats,” Bessent said. “We think that just like any cross-border activity, that moving from opaque to more transparency between the No. 1 and the No. 2 AI powers in the world is very important.”
This safety call comes days after Trump has resisted arguments to slow AI development. Trump has continously decribed AI as a race the US cannot afford to lose to China, noting that restrictions on American companies would act as an advantage for Beijing.
“We're leading China in AI, we're the most sophisticated country in the world, and frankly, I want to keep it that way because whoever wins AI, wins,” Trump told reporters during a trip to Ireland. “And we can put guardrails, we can do this and that. But I think you have a lot of negative forces that are bringing it up that shouldn't be bringing it up.”
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