US Treasury Secretary Bessent outlines AI cooperation goals with China

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that the United States and China must remain realistic about their differences regarding artificial intelligence while navigating both competition and cooperation. Speaking to the National Committee on US-China Relations in New York, Bessent emphasized the need to mitigate technological risks while competing for AI supremacy.

Bessent is scheduled to travel to China next week for a meeting in Shenzhen, held alongside the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders summit. This meeting aims to advance a bilateral dialogue on “superintelligence,” or SI, a term preferred by the Trump administration. The dialogue is intended to prevent misunderstandings between the two systems and establish best practices for testing advanced models to ensure human judgment remains in control.

The two nations have previously agreed to establish a direct channel to alert one another to serious AI-related incidents. Bessent noted that as superintelligence advances, both countries will face increasing needs for risk management and must reconcile competitive demands with the responsibilities of leadership.