Americans for Responsible Innovation today applauded reports that the United States and China will begin discussions on artificial intelligence safety guardrails. This development would mark a significant step toward managing growing cybersecurity, national security, and economic risks associated with increasingly powerful AI systems in the United States and globally.
In a recent interview with CNBC, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the two countries plan to discuss setting AI guardrails, including protocols to prevent dangerous misuse by nonstate actors. In interviews following the trade summit, President Trump also told reporters that the U.S. and China talked about working together on AI guardrails.
“Keeping Americans safe in the AI era doesn’t just mean applying guardrails here at home, it means engaging with countries like China to make sure their models don’t undermine our security, privacy, or economy,” said ARI President Brad Carson. “You can double check your smoke alarms, but if your neighbor is storing gasoline next to a bonfire, you need to have a serious conversation. Open and constructive bilateral dialogue on AI safety and security is a critical first step towards reducing the risk of escalation and the malicious use of advanced AI around the globe.”
Bilateral talks on AI could improve responsible AI governance and reduce geopolitical tensions, by establishing clear limits to AI-enabled cyberattacks on civilian infrastructure, ensuring humans remain responsible for offensive AI-enabled operations, increasing transparency in how countries approach AI cyber capabilities, and creating direct communications and incident reporting to help avoid miscalculation.
Earlier this week, prior to President Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, ARI released a new poll of Republican voters that finds overwhelming support for negotiating a set of rules on AI with China. Seventy-seven percent of respondents support the U.S. and China negotiating rules to prevent terrorists from using AI to launch cyberattacks and build biological weapons.
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Americans for Responsible Innovation (ARI) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to policy advocacy in the public interest, focused on emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI). Learn more at ARI.us.