New York: The United States and China have discussed establishing a new notification mechanism for artificial intelligence incidents that could pose risks to national security, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said following high-level talks in New York.
Bessent said the proposal was discussed during his meeting with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, describing the talks on trade and AI as successful. The proposed mechanism would form part of a broader US-China dialogue on AI, with the two sides seeking greater transparency over incidents that could have serious national security implications.
Bessent remarked that, “We think that, just like with any cross-border activity, that moving from opaque to more transparency between the number one and the number two AI powers in the world is very important.”
The discussions come ahead of a planned meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington on September 24. AI is expected to feature among the issues discussed by the two leaders as Washington and Beijing compete over the development and strategic use of the technology.
The proposed notification system would focus on AI-related incidents reaching a national security threshold. The two countries have previously discussed the need for communication channels around serious AI risks, including potential military and cyber incidents, although no formal AI forum had been established following earlier discussions in May.
Chinese state news agency Xinhua said the two sides held ‘frank, in-depth and constructive exchanges; on key economic and trade issues and also discussed AI. However, details of China’s response to the proposed notification mechanism were not immediately clear.
The New York talks also covered trade, including plans to operationalise a process known as the Board of Trade to identify potential tariff reductions on non-strategic goods. The discussions come as a US-China tariff truce is due to expire on November 10.
Bessent said the latest talks were intended to prepare the ground for the upcoming Trump-Xi summit, while the two sides are expected to continue discussions on AI, trade and other economic issues.
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