US, China Diverge on AI Risks as Summit Fuels Hopes for 2-Power Cooperation
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Sep 17
US, China Diverge on AI Risks as Summit Fuels Hopes for 2-Power Cooperation
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Sep 17
Summary
A coming Trump-Xi summit is being eyed as a chance for AI coordination, but the latest analysis says U.S.-China cooperation will stall unless Washington recognizes Beijing fears different risks.
American AI leaders including Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Elon Musk have backed slowing development, arguing China must join because its firms are nearly as capable as top U.S. rivals.
China is portrayed as less focused on superhuman AI as an existential threat because limited computing power and slower progress make a runaway “takeoff” seem farther away.
That outlook pushes Chinese policymakers toward resilient AI supply chains and wider economic adoption, while U.S. companies stay fixated on recursive self-improvement and loss-of-control scenarios.