Trump's China trip collides with AI security fears

"President Trump is expected to discuss AI guardrails with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing this week, U.S. officials told reporters Sunday. "We want to take this opportunity with the leaders meeting to open up a conversation and see if we should establish a channel of communication on AI matters," one official said."

"Between the lines: The U.S. is using export controls to slow China's AI progress, but U.S. officials increasingly recognize that the two countries may still need shared rules of the road for how the technology is deployed. The visit comes as U.S. AI companies wrestle with how to safely release increasingly powerful models that are exceptionally good at finding and exploiting software vulnerabilities."

"Advanced AI systems are increasingly viewed in both Washington and Beijing as economic engines, intelligence tools and potential cyber weapons. That makes cooperation harder, but also more urgent. Yes, but: It's hard for either country to call for restraint around AI-enabled cyber operations when both are actively testing the offensive cyber capabilities of frontier models - potentially to use against each other."

"The White House has been embroiled in a monthlong back-and-forth over how to regulate those rollouts, after more than a year of denouncing such regulation. Meanwhile, the White House accused China last month of running "industrial-scale" campaigns to distill and copy American AI models."

President Trump is expected to discuss AI guardrails with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. U.S. officials say the goal is to open a conversation and determine whether a communication channel on AI matters should be established. The U.S. uses export controls to slow China’s AI progress, while officials increasingly recognize the need for shared rules for deployment. Advanced AI systems are viewed in both countries as economic engines, intelligence tools, and potential cyber weapons, making cooperation harder but more urgent. The trip includes business executives, while leading AI CEOs are not listed. The White House faces internal conflict over regulating model rollouts and has accused China of industrial-scale copying. Both sides also test offensive cyber capabilities, complicating calls for restraint.

Read at Axios