NEW YORK — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent mentioned Sunday the U.S. has proposed a brand new “notification mechanism” for artificial intelligence incidents that might have an effect on nationwide safety, a part of weekend discussions forward of talks at the White House this week between President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping.
“We wish a shared imaginative and prescient of frequent targets and customary threats,” Bessent advised reporters after talks with Chinese language Vice Premier He Lifeng in New York. “We expect that identical to any cross-border exercise, that transferring from opaque to extra transparency between the No. 1 and the No. 2 AI powers on this planet is essential.”
Trump has resisted calls to slow down AI development, saying that might help China catch up to U.S. corporations.
Standing collectively within the hovering foyer of the JPMorgan Chase headquarters late Sunday, Bessent and U.S. Commerce Consultant Jamieson Greer mentioned the groundwork had been laid for talks between Xi and Trump set to happen on Thursday. They mentioned the 2 sides had agreed to operationalize a brand new “Board of Commerce” that the 2 leaders had mentioned once they met in Beijing in Could.
“At this time these notions have change into actuality,” Greer mentioned.
Greer mentioned the international locations had been nonetheless discussing what “nonsensitive” gadgets could possibly be thought-about for decrease tariffs, however that the checklist may probably embrace client and agricultural items, power merchandise and medical units.
Chinese language state media Xinhua mentioned Bessent and the vice premier talked about points “regarding AI” with out mentioning specifics and in addition had “candid, in-depth and constructive” discussions on key financial and commerce points.
“The truth that each side agreed to proceed the dialogue is important,” mentioned George Chen, a accomplice and chair of digital observe at The Asia Group consultancy, in written feedback. “The preliminary consequence — an AI threat notification mechanism — units a precedent that different international locations might observe.”
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Chan Ho-him in Hong Kong and Huizhong Wu in Bangkok contributed to this report.
