The United States and China will open a round of negotiations in New York this Sunday (20) that includes artificial intelligence safety, in an attempt to advance possible safeguards for advanced systems before the meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, scheduled for this week in Washington. The talks will be led by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng.
The meeting is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. New York time and is expected to last throughout the day. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will also participate. In addition to AI, the agenda includes tariffs, critical minerals and the trade truce between the world's two largest economies, which expires on November 10.
In the field of artificial intelligence, Washington intends to discuss possible “guardrails”, or safeguards, to reduce risks associated with increasingly capable models. Bessent said he expects to address both open-weight models and closed systems — a divide that has gained importance as Chinese models with more accessible code and weights expand their adoption outside the country.
Open-weight models allow developers to download core components of the system and make adjustments for their own applications. Chinese companies have been gaining ground in this segment, including among American companies attracted by lower costs compared with closed platforms from developers such as OpenAI and Anthropic.
Washington wants barriers against malicious use of models
Bessent said the U.S. is open to discussing with Beijing ways to avoid shared risks and a complete separation between the two countries' AI ecosystems. The secretary also advocated safeguards intended to prevent advanced models from reaching non-state actors considered malicious.
The rapprochement comes amid broader discussions about the risks of autonomous systems. American and Chinese experts involved in a parallel dialogue recently recommended measures such as maintaining human control over high-impact cyber operations, protecting nuclear command systems and creating a bilateral channel for incidents involving autonomous AI. The proposals, however, were not formally adopted by the two governments.
This Sunday's meeting also serves as preparation for the meeting between Trump and Xi, scheduled for September 24 in Washington. The Chinese government confirmed that He is leading a delegation in the U.S. between September 19 and 23 for economic and trade consultations, although its official statement does not detail the part of the agenda dedicated to artificial intelligence.
There is no indication that the New York round will produce a broad agreement on AI. The negotiations are taking place as Washington and Beijing continue competing in areas such as advanced models, semiconductors and computing infrastructure, but are also beginning to discuss mechanisms to manage risks that could affect both sides.
