A summit between President Trump and President Xi is expected to take place in Washington next week, with artificial intelligence (AI) anticipated to be among the topics of discussion. U.S. experts stated today that the two sides might discuss technology and governance mechanisms—including AI development safety, the establishment of a communication hotline for AI-related issues, and concrete measures to address cyber incidents.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to visit the United States next week and hold talks with President Donald Trump at the White House on the 24th. The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington-based think tank, held an online press briefing today, inviting experts and scholars to analyze the upcoming summit.
Aalok Mehta, Director of the Wadhwani AI Center at CSIS and a participant in the meeting, stated that, overall, both the U.S. and China have strong incentives to engage in substantive discussions regarding AI at this summit.
AI has recently garnered significant attention due to various factors: concerns sparked by AI-driven cyberattacks and calls for stricter regulation; urgent warnings about AI safety from researchers; and appeals from some of the world’s most influential CEOs and AI experts to slow down AI development over safety concerns.
Mehta, a former Google executive who managed AI policy, noted that potential topics for discussion at the summit include defining safe AI development and establishing fundamental safety practices, as well as setting up a communication hotline to allow both sides to stay in touch regarding emerging or evolving AI issues.
Other topics include specific responses to cyber incidents—an area Mehta believes could yield the summit’s most concrete actions. For instance, the U.S. government might agree to increase monitoring of cyber incidents involving U.S. companies, while the Chinese government would agree to do the same for incidents linked to Chinese firms, followed by the establishment of an information-sharing mechanism.