Subject of ongoing dispute between Beijing and Washington, artificial intelligence is expected to be part of the negotiations between the two countries. The focus is particularly on powerful new models and their military applications.
It is a topic of discord… among many others. Between Washington and Beijing, tensions surrounding artificial intelligence are numerous and persistent: technological race, export restrictions, accusations of theft or circumvention… The rivalry between the two powers has gradually evolved into a long-term strategic confrontation.
However, the two sides seem ready to resume dialogue. According to the Wall Street Journal, the United States and China are considering opening official discussions on artificial intelligence, as this competition threatens to escalate into a true “race for digital weapons.”
This initiative comes as a summit in Beijing between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping approaches, where AI could feature prominently on the agenda. A way for the two rivals to try to set boundaries, despite a still deep-seated mistrust. Because fundamentally, the disagreements remain major. Washington seeks to maintain its lead on models, chips, and the cloud, while limiting Chinese access to key technologies through restrictions, particularly on semiconductors.
Beijing, for its part, aims to catch up while denouncing American “technological imperialism” and calling for international regulation. Added to this, in the subtext, is a war over electronic chips essential to the proper functioning of AI, whose production and technology remain highly contested.
A “red telephone” for AI?
According to these same sources, both parties wish to establish a regular cycle of discussions to address the risks associated with the unpredictable behavior of AI models, autonomous military systems, and attacks by non-state actors using increasingly powerful open-source tools.
Washington and Beijing also acknowledge, without officially admitting it, that advanced AI models could trigger crises that neither side is truly prepared to handle. In this context, potential Sino-American discussions could lead to more concrete crisis management mechanisms, such as a dedicated hotline for artificial intelligence.
The two countries already have emergency communication channels, but Beijing has historically been reluctant to use them in major crises, such as in 2001 after the collision between an American reconnaissance plane and a Chinese fighter, or in 2023 during the overflight of a Chinese balloon over American territory. For several experts, the central question is not the creation of new tools, but their actual use in crisis situations.
