Opinion | 3 low-hanging fruit for US-China cooperation on AI
Given the escalation of technological competition across the Pacific, it is tempting to see AI as an area where excessive caution and hype over security and politico-ideological control render it impossible for the two administrations to see eye to eye.
Yet this view ignores the vast areas in which Beijing and Washington can still work together through government-to-government and people-to-people engagement.
Even while comprehensive agreements on the regulation of dual-use AI remain elusive – given domestic political intransigence, high strategic stakes and the US’ ratcheting up of pressure to contain China’s technological rise – both administrations can pragmatically cultivate a modus vivendi.
China and the US exchanged views “deeply, professionally and constructively” in their first intergovernmental talks on AI risks and governance in Geneva on May 14, according to a Chinese foreign ministry readout. Photo: Weibo
In San Francisco last November, Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden affirmed the importance of coordinating over the challenges AI poses to humanity. The next step should be to address three low-hanging fruit when it comes to cooperation.
The first area concerns the potential detrimental effect of AI-induced automation on societies. The displacement of routine service labour and acceleration of substitution through AI-powered robotics could result in mass unemployment and widen socioeconomic inequality.
Experts argue that addressing AI-induced malaise – ranging from misinformation via deepfakes and algorithmic targeting to disruption of relationships and attitudes of trust and compassion – requires joint efforts from some of the world’s largest tech regulators, in China, the United States and the European Union.
While China’s extensive regulations on AI use in content generation and social media could prove to be unduly stifling for private developers, and granted that the US has a vastly different political economy, Washington may still benefit from taking a leaf out of China’s book on delineating harmful and impermissible corporate uses of user data. Aligning on transnational privacy and data regulation is of critical importance.
Secondly, it would take explicit instructions from the top to establish guard rails on the deployment of lethal AI-powered technologies in military settings. As the late US secretary of state Henry Kissinger noted, the gargantuan costs of an unbridled AI-powered war are far too daunting for responsible statesmen to ignore.
02:11
Autonomous ‘wingman’ drone technology being developed for tomorrow’s ‘Top Gun’ fighter pilots
Autonomous ‘wingman’ drone technology being developed for tomorrow’s ‘Top Gun’ fighter pilots
More substantively, both sides must commit to withholding decision-making powers from AI in the use of large-scale weaponry and in digital warfare against financial and physical infrastructure, as well as agree on heightened transparency and full disclosure of AI militarisation capacities.
Many of these steps had been adopted previously in nuclear non-proliferation and coordination between the Soviet Union and the US during the Cold War. We live in times when the focal bilateral relationship is much less fractious.
Indeed, China’s defence ministry has indicated its openness to jointly regulating military AI, and the recent US-China talks on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore are a reassuring sign of thawing military-to-military relations.
Recently, the reported use of algorithms to identify human targets in the Gaza war has sparked considerable controversy. The use of AI in the Ukraine war has also raised concern.
In defining the ethical boundaries of war, legal and ethical experts should put their heads together to foster mutually binding regulatory standards, taking into full account the complexity of human experience and contextually specific expectations.
US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin shakes hands with China’s Defence Minister Dong Jun during a ministerial round-table discussion on the sidelines of the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on June 1. Photo: Bloomberg
Thirdly, the issue of non-alignment between humanity and AI knows no nationality or politics. As leading Chinese AI ethicist Yi Zeng noted in 2019, value alignment with humanity is a universal challenge for AI.
One classic example is philosopher Nick Bostrom’s 2003 thought experiment – suppose an AI agent has been tasked with producing as many paper clips as possible. In seeking to maximise the space, energy and resources for manufacturing, the powerful agent acts to stifle the growth of humanity, which it views as contrary to its production objective.
This may seem fanciful, yet is by no means unrealistic. With sufficiently powerful AI agents, seemingly clear objectives could produce unintended, perverse consequences – an issue both Chinese and American developers must confront as they race to produce the most competitive AI models.
03:08
What if robots took over the world? One ‘imagines’ nightmare scenario
What if robots took over the world? One ‘imagines’ nightmare scenario
Additionally, specific training environments and positive reinforcement will spur certain emergent goals in AI, which – when transplanted to a non-test environment – could produce undesirable outcomes.
Both countries’ leaders share an overarching interest in ensuring their AI agents do not impinge on humanity’s interests, whether through intentional manipulation by unaccountable private actors, or faulty developmental processes by authorised researchers.
Thought leadership and research on this issue need not be zero-sum – both China and the US stand to gain from alignment in ethical tech governance.
Here Hong Kong can serve as a conduit for Track 1.5 and 2 dialogues on AI, which could feature a larger proportion of private-sector players than such dialogues in Beijing – especially from the US and the rest of the West.
All hands must be on deck to avoid the calamities that could result from increasingly intertwined developments in nascent technologies and geopolitics.
Brian Wong is an assistant professor in philosophy at the University of Hong Kong, and a Rhodes Scholar and adviser on strategy for the Oxford Global Society
IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Trump Wraps China Summit With Xi Jinping: What Are the Results? 05:41 Xi gives Trump rare tour of secret garden at heart of Chinese government 01:04 Now Playing Trump departs China after two-day summit 01:01 UP NEXT Special Report: Trump
Cerebras, an AI chipmaker, saw its shares nearly double on Nasdaq, closing up 70% with a $95B market cap. Cerebras’s powerful chips are key in the US-China AI tech race. Chris Buskirk, co-founder and chief investment officer of 1789 Capital, a key Cerebras investor, says the company’s IPO is geopolitically significant. On Thursday, shares of
There was no joint statement out of Trump’s China trip today. But there might as well have been. In one of the most secretive spaces in Chinese politics, the walled compound where China’s top leaders live and work, the number of cameras and journalists granted access at the start of the bilateral tea this morning
The Sea Voyager crude oil tanker anchored off the Port of Long Beach in Long Beach, California, US, on Thursday, May 7, 2026. Tim Rue | Bloomberg | Getty Images Oil prices rose Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump said China has agreed to purchase oil from America, following talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. International
IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Now Playing Special Report: Trump and Xi give closing comments during U.S.-China summit 29:50 UP NEXT Trump says ‘fantastic’ trade deals made during talks with Xi 07:20 Xi welcomes Trump to Zhongnanhai for summit closing remarks 02:23 Trump praises Xi,
IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. South Carolina governor to call special session to redraw House maps 04:15 Xi Jinping is ‘moving the goalposts’ on Taiwan, House China cmte. chair says 09:32 Now Playing Marco Rubio says ‘we’re not asking for China’s help’ with Iran 20:55
LOS ANGELES — The resignation of a Southern California mayor who pleaded guilty to acting as a foreign agent for China has sparked backlash and reignited fears of anti-Asian discrimination. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content. Earlier this week, Eileen Wang, 58, admitted to federal law
U.S. President Donald Trump wraps up his visit to Beijing on Friday with a private meeting at Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s official residence before he departs for Washington. Trump has taken a decidedly rosy outlook on the U.S.-China relationship during this trip. But that has collided with some difficult truths about the thorniest issues between
As the leaders of the world’s two largest economies meet in Beijing this week, a new analysis underscores a growing divergence between China and the United States in shaping the global energy system. While Chinese companies continue to expand their dominance of clean energy industries, the data shows, their American counterparts are withdrawing from those
new video loaded: China Is Worried About A.I. Too transcript Back transcript China Is Worried About A.I. Too What if you weren’t worried about A.I. taking your job? That seems to be closer to the reality in China, where keeping pace with the new technology is a much bigger focus than economic disruption. On “Interesting
IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Exclusive look at Chinese pandas preparing for trip to America 02:03 Inside China’s race to dominate humanoid robotics 02:51 Now Playing Trump’s high-stakes summit in China 07:50 UP NEXT Alex Murdaugh’s convictions for murder of wife and son overturned 02:10
IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Exclusive look at Chinese pandas preparing for trip to America 02:03 Now Playing Inside China’s race to dominate humanoid robotics 02:51 UP NEXT Trump’s high-stakes summit in China 07:50 Alex Murdaugh’s convictions for murder of wife and son overturned 02:10
In an exclusive sit-down with Sean Hannity, President Donald Trump announced that President Xi Jinping has committed to purchasing 200 Boeing jets, boosting American manufacturing. President Donald Trump said that Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to order 200 Boeing jets during their high-level meeting in Beijing. Speaking in an exclusive interview with Fox News host
President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping wrap up their summit in Beijing on Friday as both countries look to claim the visit as a win. The leaders of the two superpowers are holding a bilateral tea and taking a friendship photo on Friday before Mr. Trump leaves China and heads back to Washington. The two
Why does Donald Trump look so at home in China? The US president spent day one of his summit in Beijing basking in rigid pageantry, heroically managing not to offend his hosts and offering the verdict: “China is beautiful.” A man who has shown authoritarian yearnings in his own country – discrediting elections, cowing universities,
IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. South Carolina governor to call special session to redraw House maps 04:15 Now Playing Xi Jinping is ‘moving the goalposts’ on Taiwan, House China cmte. chair says 09:32 UP NEXT Marco Rubio says ‘we’re not asking for China’s help’ with
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Wednesday that the United States must “stay ahead of the curve” on innovation to counter China’s widespread intellectual property theft, arguing that Beijing has leveraged stolen American technology to fuel its progress. “A lot of the advancements you’ve seen in the
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Trade has emerged as a central focus of President Donald Trump’s high-stakes meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, following a Supreme Court setback over Trump’s tariff agenda earlier this year. “President Trump had a good meeting with President Xi of China,” a White House official
Updated May 14, 2026, 11:51 a.m. ET President Donald Trump is in China for a packed two-day trip, including one-on-ones with President Xi Jinping, in the first U.S. state visit to China in nearly a decade. In November, Trump announced he had accepted an invitation to visit China in April, but that was delayed as
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Chinese security officials allegedly blocked an armed U.S. Secret Service agent from entering an event on Thursday during President Donald Trump’s visit to the country, according to media members on the ground. A Secret Service agent was reportedly blocked from entering Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s
