U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington was able to negotiate with China on artificial intelligence because the United States is "at the forefront" of the technology. Bessent made the remarks to CNBC on Thursday during a break in the two‑day Beijing summit between President Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.
A joint framework for best practices
According to the secretary, the two powers are beginning a dialogue on AI and working to develop shared guidelines for best practices. Particular attention will be paid to preventing the most advanced models from falling into the hands of non‑state actors, a measure intended to reduce security risks.
Bessent emphasized that these consultations are taking place precisely because the United States holds a leadership position in the technology; he said that if the roles were reversed, China likely would not have initiated such talks.
Concerns over potentially dangerous models
In Washington, there has been notable concern about the Mythos AI model from the U.S. company Anthropic, which has been reported to possess significant cyberattack capabilities. Anthropic says the model is currently available only to selected commercial partners.
At the same time, Bessent said he expects a substantial leap forward from upcoming updates to Google Gemini and OpenAI large language models.
Chips, export controls and delegation members
In the background of these discussions are U.S. efforts to slow China’s AI development through export controls on leading semiconductors, notably Nvidia chips. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang joined the U.S. delegation to Beijing at the last minute.
Reuters has reported that Washington authorized sales of Nvidia H200 AI chips to several large Chinese companies; Bessent responded to that reporting by saying only that "many consultations" had taken place on the matter.
Summit developments and the Taiwan issue
The first round of the Trump–Xi summit concluded at midday local time on Thursday. According to a Beijing statement, Xi Jinping identified the Taiwan issue as the most important bilateral matter and warned against mismanaging the situation, noting that China regards the democratically governed island as its territory.
Bessent promised that Donald Trump would release further details on the Taiwan question "in the coming days," adding that the president is aware of the sensitivities involved.
Lead‑up talks and regional diplomacy
Ahead of the Beijing summit, Bessent met in Seoul with Ho Lifeng, China’s vice premier, to discuss trade issues. In Tokyo he discussed critical minerals and various investment agreements with Japanese and South Korean leaders.
The Beijing visit is a milestone: it is the first time since 2017 that a sitting U.S. president has traveled to China.
Why it matters
U.S.-China dialogue on artificial intelligence intersects technological, economic, and geopolitical concerns. Establishing shared guidelines aims to control advanced models and promote responsible use, while export rules and licensing are tools Washington is using to try to limit the potential military or malicious application of these technologies in China.
