US proposes AI threat notification mechanism in China talks

The United States has proposed establishing a notification mechanism with China for sharing information about serious artificial intelligence threats, as officials from the two countries held high-level talks ahead of a planned meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng met in New York for about eight hours on Sunday. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and China's chief trade negotiator Li Chenggang also participated in the discussions.

Bessent described the talks as "very successful" and said greater transparency between the world's two leading AI powers was important.

The proposed US-China AI dialogue would include a system for notifying each other about incidents considered serious enough to raise national security concerns.

"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," Bessent said.

He said the two countries needed channels to communicate about shared objectives and potential threats as artificial intelligence development continued to accelerate.

Greer said the proposed notification mechanism would not cover US export controls on advanced AI chips or semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

Chinese officials described the discussions as frank, detailed and constructive, covering a range of economic and trade issues, including artificial intelligence.

Li said the talks had taken place in a positive atmosphere, with a working group expected to continue discussions.

The officials also discussed implementing a process agreed in May to identify non-strategic goods that could qualify for reduced tariffs.

Potential Chinese exports under the arrangement could include consumer products and other lower-technology goods, while US exports could include energy products, agricultural commodities and medical devices.

The New York talks come as a fragile US-China trade truce approaches its November 10 expiry date.

The agreement, reached in Busan, South Korea, last October, limited US tariffs on Chinese goods to about 20 percent after an escalating trade dispute briefly saw tariffs rise into triple-digit territory.

Washington and Beijing have also been involved in discussions over China's supply of rare-earth magnets and other critical minerals that are important to industries including automotive manufacturing and advanced semiconductor production.

No new progress on those issues was announced following Sunday's talks.

The discussions in New York were intended in part to prepare the ground for the planned Trump-Xi meeting later this week, although officials did not announce any major new agreement beyond the areas already under discussion.