Washington and Beijing will discuss how to regulate advanced AI models and mitigate the risks they pose.
The United States and China will hold talks over artificial intelligence in September, Reuters reported, citing five people familiar with the matter. The rival superpowers are expected to discuss the risks posed by increasingly powerful frontier AI models as technological competition between the two countries intensifies.
The AI talks, a significant outcome of the Trump-Xi meeting in May, will likely take place before Chinese President Xi Jinping's planned Sept. 24 visit to the United States, the sources said. The dates, however, have not been finalized.
As the global AI race accelerates, China and the United States have grown increasingly anxious over each other's AI capabilities. Beijing and Washington are weighing how to regulate advanced AI models that could strengthen military capabilities, enable cyberattacks on critical infrastructure and disrupt labor markets.
The September talks would be led on the U.S. side by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Reuters reported. The identities of other participants from both countries, as well as the agenda and location of the discussions, are still under deliberation, as preparations remain at an initial stage.
The United States has already limited exports to China of some of the most advanced AI chips. Axios has also reported that, faced with the growing capabilities and popularity of Chinese open-weight AI models, Washington is considering restrictions on their use by U.S. companies.
Chinese authorities, meanwhile, are mulling curbs on overseas access to the country's most powerful AI models amid concerns about the hacking potential of Anthropic's Mythos, which is currently not available to the general public.
Bessent said in May that future talks would be aimed at halting the proliferation of powerful AI models to non-state actors. Following the Trump-Xi meeting, China's foreign ministry confirmed that the two countries had agreed to establish intergovernmental AI talks, but Beijing has not commented publicly on the initiative since.
According to analysts, Beijing's priority list for the discussions includes Mythos, how the United States will control the release of future advanced frontier models, and whether Washington will impose restrictions on Chinese open-weight models. The Trump administration is also in talks with U.S. AI companies about creating voluntary safety standards for the release of new AI models, although it has not yet announced any regulatory measures.
One of the sources said Chinese authorities will continue internal deliberations on AI issues over the next month before deciding which officials from which ministries will participate in the AI dialogue. China is looking for real engagement and technical discussions on AI issues from the United States rather than political talks, the source added.
Source: CNBC
