Will Trump and Xi try to slow the AI race?

When President Trump and President Xi Jinping of China meet in Beijing this week, they are expected to discuss, for the first time, how to manage the risks of AI. But in many ways, the two countries seem farther apart than ever on that question.

Both the United States and China are racing to develop AI-powered weapons that could wreak immense damage without human involvement. Powerful new AI models could enable cyberattacks that might cripple the world’s banks and power grids. Experts have also raised the alarm about how AI could be misused by terrorists or even become sentient and wipe out humankind.

But the United States and China are locked in a battle for supremacy in AI that has left policymakers and some researchers increasingly wary of engagement, even as they warn of the technology’s risks. In both countries, many policymakers fear that imposing guardrails on AI development — for example, curtailing the technology’s ability to create bioweapons — would give the other country an opportunity to race ahead.

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