Dems urge Trump to seek AI deal with China
Por Katherine Long — POLITICO – TOP Stories
Democratic senators are pushing President Donald Trump to establish an agreement with Chinese leader Xi Jinping to mutually slow or pause artificial intelligence development.
A group of 17 senators sent a letter, shared exclusively with POLITICO, to Trump Wednesday ahead of his long-awaited summit with Xi. Their demands represent the latest call from industry and Washington policymakers for an accord between the U.S. and China on AI.
“As you prepare for the upcoming summit, we urge you to engage with President Xi directly to discuss efforts to avoid the potential harms of this technology for the safety and benefit of the world,” the letter, led by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), states.
Some AI accelerationists argue the threat of the U.S. losing the AI race to China is an existential risk that could jeopardize America’s superpower status. But Democratic lawmakers, including those hawkish on China, argue both countries have an interest in preventing advanced AI models from causing harm.
“America leads in AI innovation, and we must lead the world in AI safety and international cooperation, including by working with China to develop a formal agreement that would slow down, and potentially enact a mutual pause in, frontier AI development,” the letter reads.
A spokesperson for the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Signatories include Democratic Sens. Van Hollen, Maria Cantwell (Wash.), Tim Kaine (Va.), Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), Tina Smith (Minn.), Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Mazie Hirono (Hawaii), Peter Welch (Vt.), Alex Padilla (Calif.), Raphael Warnock (Ga.), Ben Ray Luján (N.M.), Patty Murray (Wash.), Jacky Rosen (Nev.), Angela Alsobrooks (Md.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Tammy Duckworth (Ill.).
Surging public concerns about AI and its potential risks, exacerbated by recent Silicon Valley whistleblower disclosures, have spurred demands for the president to reach an agreement with Xi to pace development. But Trump on Tuesday, just days before Xi’s visit to the U.S., condemned the idea of a global entity to govern AI while speaking at the United Nations General Assembly.
“We’re leading now over China by a lot and everyone else, and we’re going to keep it that way. We’re going to keep it very, very straight and very strong. I’m not going to stifle growth of anything that’s going to be bigger than the Industrial Revolution,” Trump said.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, following his meeting with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng on Sunday, proposed a “notification mechanism” between the two countries to discuss AI incidents. But the arrangement is much simpler than the term suggests, and hints at the modest ambitions the White House has on AI heading into the summit.
On Capitol Hill, lawmakers who are eager to address the public’s fears surrounding AI see Trump’s meeting with Xi as a critical moment for pacing AI development.
“AI technology is too powerful, and its risks too many, for the U.S. and China to forgo discussions on parameters around its development and use,” the senators wrote. “What our two countries develop as guardrails will serve as a standard for how the technology is used worldwide.”
Fonte: POLITICO – TOP Stories
