China and US announce AI safety channel even as Trump claims ‘super intelligence’ needs no guardrails

The US and China agreed to set up a channel for handling artificial intelligence (AI)-related incidents, according to an announcement at the end of their three-day summit, even though president Donald Trump has claimed the technology doesn’t need any new guardrails.

Xi Jinping’s first visit to the White House produced no major breakthroughs, but experts say it provided them an opportunity to nurture cooperation and set up working groups that could prevent problems from escalating.

The White House on Saturday said both sides would set up a communication mechanism for AI-related incidents, to discuss related risks and benefits, with further AI-specific talks scheduled for November.

During their summit, Mr Xi reportedly told Mr Trump that both nations can and must develop and manage AI “for good”, in contrast to the American president’s stance that safety fears over the technology are “a hoax”.

Mr Xi told Mr Trump: “Both China and the United States are leading nations in artificial intelligence. [We must] ensure that the development of AI is always under human control and serves the wellbeing of the people.”

AI bosses in recent weeks have sounded alarm over the potential of the technology to threaten the future of the human race. Sam Altman, the chief executive of OpenAI maker ChatGPT, said the world was right to be afraid of AI, and the warnings have led to new calls for regulation of the technology.

Two researchers from ‌Anthropic, the company behind the advanced AI assistant Claude, also warned this month that the rapidly progressing technology could lead to the extinction of the human race in the not-too-distant ⁠future.

It prompted the UN human rights chief to ask AI companies to rein in development of the technology, cautioning that the world was “on the cusp of irreversible change” that could affect generations of humanity.

But at the UN General Assembly last Tuesday, Mr Trump dismissed calls for stricter controls, branding the warnings “a hoax”.

“During this visit, we will also discuss pressing issues concerning security, technology, and ‘super-intelligence’,” Mr Trump said ahead of Mr Xi’s arrival in Washington.

Analysts have cautioned that the two countries’ intense competition in the AI field is likely to reduce either side’s willingness to limit the technology beyond symbolic agreements.

Mr Trump claims Mr Xi had agreed with his push to rebrand AI as “super intelligence”. He has instructed government departments to use the term in posts and documents.

The US president has also rebuffed calls for Congress to place new regulations on AI, saying: “The only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades.”

Several executives from AI and technology companies attended the Trump-Xi state dinner on Thursday evening, including Mr Altman, Nvidia boss Jensen Huang, OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman, Tesla boss Elon Musk and Amazon chief Jeff Bezos.