China’s President Xi Jinping go meet Donald Trump later this month, and AI governance dey high on agenda. In recent weeks concern don grow around risk wey AI fit pose to humanity, after one safety researcher at Anthropic talk say the technology fit ‘kill all humans’ within next ten years.
Washington don long dey frame United States’ development of AI as race against China, one wey e consider vital to national security. But China see am same way? And if yes, wetin be chance say these rival superpowers go cooperate to control AI risks? Asma Khalid join Kyle Chan, fellow at Brookings Institute and expert on Chinese tech development, to understand how China AI ambition differ from US, and wetin really dey at stake if two countries fail to find common ground on this era-defining technology.
Beijing hit back after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei call for US to impede China progress in AI. China dismiss wetin e call ‘fearmongering’ calls for US to block Beijing AI industry, even as top Chinese spy chief warn say the evolving technology fit threaten Communist party rule.
Amodei, US tech entrepreneur and Anthropic chief executive, write essay wey dem publish over weekend. E call for global slowdown in AI capabilities, but also talk say Washington suppose actively impede Beijing advancement to keep technological edge. E warn say AI fit give Chinese Communist party chance ‘to militarily dominate democracies’. Amodei talk say e believe ‘a Chinese lead in AI would pose grave danger for the US and the world’.
China Ministry of Foreign Affairs respond to question on Amodei essay by saying all parties suppose work together on AI. Spokesperson Guo Jiakun tell press conference on Monday say: ‘Fearmongering, confrontation and vicious competition will only disrupt the process of global AI governance, which serves no one’s interest.’
In the essay, Amodei predict say swarm of AI ‘agents’ fit take over internet in six to 12 months unless researchers agree to slow down. E talk say while ‘global pacing will require cooperation with China’, steps dey needed to ‘keep democracies’ AI lead over autocracies as large as possible’. Other tech bosses, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Google DeepMind chair Demis Hassabis, and SpaceX chief Elon Musk, post general support for Amodei lengthy essay, although not specifically on China.
While Beijing reject say its dominance in AI go dangerous, e share fears over pace of development. China president Xi Jinping warn at conference in July say AI suppose ‘always remain under human control’. But extent of Chinese government concerns show in article published on Sunday inside state-run magazine China Cyberspace, where country top intelligence official write say technology fit threaten government hold on power.
Head of China ministry of state security Chen Yixin write say ‘hostile forces and individuals with ulterior motives’ dey abuse AI to wage ‘propaganda war and a cognitive war against us, directly threatening our political security, institutional security, and ideological security’. Chen refer specifically to US models such as Anthropic Claude and OpenAI GPT-5. 5-Cyber models, wey e talk say dem weaponise and be examples of new threats to cybersecurity.
While public, governments and tech bosses dey warn of AI dangers, Donald Trump dismiss such concerns outright. On Monday, US president talk say only ‘guardrails’ wey AI need na ‘STRONG AND SMART’ president. Trump don dey particularly sensitive to stock market changes, and AI stocks slip after concerns over pace of growth raise. US and Chinese leaders expected to discuss AI governance, among other topics, at meeting planned on 24 September.
Inside editorial published Sunday, China state-run Global Times newspaper dismiss Amodei essay as veiled call to ‘contain’ China. ‘The article is packed with containment provisions targeting China and is, in essence, a ‘cold war playbook’ for the AI sector,’ e talk.
