WASHINGTON — China’s president issued a call from the White House on Thursday for artificial intelligence to remain “under human control” as the world’s two superpowers race for technological supremacy. Xi Jinping’s remarks reflect growing concern within China over whether governments in Washington or Beijing will be able to contain a technology with potentially transformative capabilities, according to a U.S. official. Lawmakers and AI industry leaders urged President Trump to use his summit with Xi this week to pursue a safety framework for AI, which researchers warn could soon surpass human understanding.
But Trump preempted the meeting with a post on social media stating he had no intention of negotiating limits on AI development. That is China’s position also. Our guardrail is the DOJ!” After offering Xi a lavish welcome on the White House grounds, Trump made a passing reference to AI.
But Xi gestured to substantial concerns, noting AI first among priorities to discuss between the two nations. In the evening, a guest list of top banking and technology leaders — including AI industry executives — were scheduled to attend a state dinner in the East Room of the White House. We’ve agreed to meet again,” Bessent said Monday.
China, too, has shown increasing willingness to open channels of communication on AI, despite deep distrust between the two sides. Two American AI companies, OpenAI and Anthropic, are widely viewed to be developing the most advanced AI models in the world, leading at the frontier of technological breakthroughs. Both have begun to use their most sophisticated models to train the next generation, in a process known as recursive self-improvement.
Researchers and industry experts believe the first company to master that process could set off an exponential cycle of progress, pulling so far ahead that competitors can no longer catch up. But those same companies also fear what they’re creating: machines capable of continuously improving their own intelligence, pushing AI development beyond human control. Leaders from the two companies have called on Beijing and Washington to cooperate, warning that geopolitical competition could thwart the two sides from preventing a human catastrophe.
In his remarks, Xi said that China and the United States “stand to gain from cooperation, and will both lose in confrontation.” “We do not need to avoid mentioning competition, but our competition should be a healthy one, and should be kept within bounds,” the Chinese president said. China and the United States must hold the line of no conflict, and no confrontation between us.” “Our two militaries should maintain regular dialogue, and improve mechanisms for crisis communication and prevention,” he continued, adding a historical reference to rising powers challenging established ones: “The Thucydides trap can be overcome.” Xi’s trip to Washington follows just months after Trump traveled to Beijing for a state visit in May, where the U.S. president was greeted with a similarly imperial welcome. The leaders emerged from that summit with few deliverables.
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