BEIJING, China – China warned on Monday that portraying its artificial intelligence ambitions as a global threat could undermine international efforts to govern the technology, sharpening a dispute over how to reconcile AI safety with national competition.
Responding to Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei, Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun urged inclusive cooperation. He said “fear-mongering, confrontation and vicious competition” would obstruct effective international governance.
The exchange suggests that the obstacle to common rules is increasingly political: each side fears that safeguards negotiated with its rival could become constraints imposed on itself.
Safety and strategic advantage
Amodei’s weekend essay combines a call to slow advances in the most powerful AI systems with proposals to preserve American leadership. He advocates independent evaluators inside AI companies, coordinated safety standards and restrictions on China’s access to advanced chips. He also explicitly calls for cooperation with Beijing, while warning that agreements require credible verification.
China’s state-run Global Times portrayed the proposal as a “Cold War playbook” designed to contain Chinese development.
Yet Beijing has security concerns of its own. China’s State Security Ministry has warned that AI-generated disinformation could threaten political and ideological security. That emphasis shows how differently governments can define the risks they want international governance to address.
China is also courting developing countries through access and cooperation. At the weekend’s BRICS summit, Xi Jinping proposed an AI open-source community and measures to expand technological capacity across the Global South, according to Monday’s ministry briefing. These initiatives give Beijing a platform for shaping the rules alongside promoting its technology.
Washington divides as Europe presses for cooperation
The American position is itself contested. On Monday, President Trump dismissed demands for additional safeguards, arguing that existing powers were sufficient. Sam Altman and Elon Musk, meanwhile, endorsed Amodei’s framework.
Germany said halting AI development was unworkable but that effective oversight required both China and the United States. Spain urged consideration of an international agreement, while Britain called for regulation grounded in evidence.
Distrust has deepened after U.S. agencies accused Chinese companies of improperly extracting capabilities from American models. China rejected the allegations and accused Washington of suppressing competition.
AI governance is expected to feature in a Trump–Xi meeting planned for September 24. The practical test will be whether the two governments can agree on verifiable safeguards while their technological competition continues.
Sources: Chinese Foreign Ministry, UK Government, AP, Reuters, Financial Times