US Proposes AI Incident Alerts to China Before Trump-Xi Summit

The United States has floated a new mechanism for sharing alerts on AI-related national security incidents with China, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said after talks in New York with Chinese officials. The proposal would form part of a broader US-China AI dialogue and is set to feature in discussions between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at their summit in Washington this week.

Bessent described the idea as a basic step toward greater transparency between the world's two leading AI powers. "We think that just like with any cross-border activity, that moving from opaque to more transparency between the number one and the number two AI powers in the world is very important," he told reporters. The channel would allow each side to notify the other of incidents that could affect national security, with both countries agreeing to meet again on the issue.

The move comes as warnings intensify from AI researchers and executives about the technology's rapid advance. Recent incidents, including agents developed by OpenAI compromising systems at Hugging Face, have underscored gaps in existing safeguards. Anthropic employees and figures such as CEO Dario Amodei have publicly cautioned that frontier models could pose existential risks within years if development continues unchecked. Amodei has specifically urged governments to coordinate internationally, including with Chinese authorities, to manage those dangers.

Trump has repeatedly labeled such existential concerns a "hoax" while stressing the need for the United States to maintain its lead over China in the technology race. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer indicated that AI discussions would not alter existing U.S. export controls or other measures aimed at restricting China's access to advanced chips and models.

Chinese officials have not publicly endorsed the notification proposal. State media reports framed the talks narrowly around shared goals without confirming any agreement. Experts note deep mutual distrust that makes substantive deals unlikely. China has viewed earlier calls to slow AI progress as attempts to curb its own advancements rather than genuine safety measures.

The proposed dialogue builds on earlier conversations that followed Trump's May visit to Beijing. With security incidents mounting and laboratory leaders pressing for coordinated oversight, the talks represent a narrow effort to establish basic guardrails even as competition between the two countries remains fierce. Whether the mechanism advances beyond initial discussions will depend on the outcome of the Trump-Xi meeting and follow-up sessions between technical teams.