US and China reach consensus on AI dialogue featuring a security framework as Trump-Xi meeting approaches

The United States and China have agreed to establish an official dialogue on artificial intelligence, announced just days before Donald Trump hosts Xi Jinping in Washington. The move signals a rare moment of cooperation between the world's two leading AI powers, even as their broader trade relationship remains tense.

A Notification Mechanism for Security Risks

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent unveiled the agreement on Sunday following a full day of negotiations with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng at JPMorgan's Manhattan headquarters, as reported by the Financial Times and The Information.

At the center of the proposal is a "notification mechanism" designed to flag AI incidents that touch on national security. Bessent said the dialogue aims to build "a shared vision of common goals and common threats," with both sides planning a follow-up meeting to hash out the details of the reporting system.

"We think that just like any cross-border activity, moving from opaque to more transparency between the number one and number two AI powers in the world is very important," Bessent told reporters.

Building on the Beijing Meetings

The AI dialogue expands on groundwork laid during Trump and Xi's earlier meeting in Beijing in May. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer confirmed that both sides formalized a "board of trade" first discussed there.

"We just had a very successful engagement with the Chinese on trade and AI, completing where we left off in Beijing," Bessent said. "[In Beijing] we created the board of trade and began the subject of AI, and this evening those were operationalised."

Notably, Greer stressed that export controls on advanced AI chips were never on the negotiating table, underscoring the limits of the new cooperation.

The announcement follows warnings from AI industry leaders that humanity could lose control of the technology unless the pace of research slows, though no such slowdown pact was agreed.

The Trade Truce Hangs Over the Summit

Trump is scheduled to welcome Xi at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday, with the summit taking place Thursday in Washington and including a state dinner — the first meeting between the two leaders on US soil since 2017.

A central question will be whether the trade truce struck in October in Busan, South Korea, gets extended. Under that deal, the US paused planned export controls affecting thousands of Chinese companies, while China delayed restrictions on rare earth exports. According to the Financial Times, China wants the truce extended through the end of Trump's term, while the US has pushed to limit it to six months.

Washington also fears Beijing may not be honoring its rare earths commitments, pointing to Chinese export limits on Japan — a supply source equally critical to US supply chains.

While US officials had earlier floated the idea of an AI slowdown agreement between the two superpowers, Trump has rejected that proposal, citing the ongoing AI race with China.

Meta description: The US and China agreed to a joint AI dialogue with a security notification mechanism, announced ahead of the Trump-Xi summit in Washington this week.

Tags: US-China relations, artificial intelligence, Trump-Xi summit, AI policy, trade truce

Featured image: Abstract illustration of two glowing digital spheres connected by a data bridge, dark blue and red tones, no people or logos.