Dems urge Trump to seek AI safety deal with China

In a letter, the senators stated, "America leads in AI innovation, and we must lead the world in AI safety and international cooperation, including by working with China to develop a formal agreement that would slow down, and potentially enact a mutual pause in, frontier AI development." They believe that guardrails developed by the US and China would serve as a standard for worldwide AI use.

This push comes amid surging public concerns about AI's potential risks, amplified by recent whistleblower disclosures from Silicon Valley. However, Trump has previously expressed skepticism about global AI governance. Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, he condemned the idea of a global entity to govern AI, stating, "We’re leading now over China by a lot and everyone else, and we’re going to keep it that way. We’re going to keep it very, very straight and very strong. I’m not going to stifle growth of anything that’s going to be bigger than the Industrial Revolution."

Following a meeting with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent proposed a "notification mechanism" between the two countries to discuss AI incidents. However, the arrangement is described as simpler than the term suggests, indicating modest ambitions from the White House on AI ahead of a summit.