Trump and Xi may not resolve their AI rivalry, but AI security could open door to dialogue | Today’s news
Artificial intelligence is emerging as a new front in the widening US-China rift. During a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, the two leaders are expected to discuss an artificial intelligence dialogue mechanism to address security and national security risks.
In fact, on Tuesday, the front page of the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), carried an article saying that the US and China should “make artificial intelligence a new frontier for China-US cooperation” and “make good use of the intergovernmental dialogue mechanism on artificial intelligence.”
But behind the talk of cooperation lies a deeper battle over who controls the technologies, chips and computing infrastructure that could shape the next phase of the global economy.
We lead China in AI: Trump
For Washington, maintaining leadership in advanced AI has become an economic and strategic priority. In fact, Trump recently said, “We’re leading China in artificial intelligence, and frankly, I want to keep it that way, because whoever wins AI wins.”
In addition, the US has already limited China’s access to some advanced semiconductors and technologies related to artificial intelligence, although Washington continues to debate how far these restrictions should go.
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China has invested $184 billion in artificial intelligence in four years
China, meanwhile, sees artificial intelligence as an important part of its economic transformation. The New York Times reported that Beijing is pouring significant resources into artificial intelligence, even though Chinese economists doubt whether the technology can create enough jobs or provide an immediate boost to the economy.
The report estimates that sovereign wealth funds have invested more than $184 billion in AI firms between 2000 and 2023, with hundreds of billions more pledged by the government and state-owned banks last year. Private investment in AI in China is much lower than in the United States, where private sources will pour $285 billion into the technology in 2025 alone.
This makes the AI competition different from the traditional US-China trade dispute.
Why does AI competition have deeper implications?
Tariffs can affect the movement of goods, while restrictions on chips, computing power and advanced artificial intelligence models can affect the technological capacity of various industries.
Rivalry also creates a difficult balance between cooperation and competition. As U.S. officials and technology executives expressed concern about the risks posed by increasingly powerful AI systems, China’s Foreign Ministry responded by saying that “fear-mongering, confrontation, and fierce competition will only disrupt the global AI governance process.”
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Who controls the AI?
At the summit, the US and China could seek common ground on AI security, even as their rivalry over technology control continues. The Guardian reported that officials have already discussed setting up a channel to discuss the risks of artificial intelligence, while Chinese state media have also called for artificial intelligence to become a new area of cooperation between the US and China.
The broader message of the summit is that artificial intelligence is no longer just a matter for the technology sector. It is also associated with trade, industrial policy, national security and economic power. As Washington and Beijing struggle to manage their relationship, control over advanced artificial intelligence could become one of the most important negotiating points between the world’s two largest economies.
