China criticised calls from leading US technology executives to put the brakes on AI development and impose tighter curbs on Chinese model makers.“Fearmongering, confrontation and vicious competition will only disrupt the process of global AI governance and serve the interests of no one,” foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said in Beijing Monday. “The development of AI bears on the common well-being of all humanity,” he added, in response to a question on calls to slow frontier models.The dispute over frontier technology is intensifying days before officials from the US and China are set to hold AI discussions ahead of Donald Trump’s summit with Xi Jinping on Sept 24. China worries the US could invoke safety or national security to justify broader restrictions, said Sun Chenghao, a fellow at Tsinghua University’s Center for International Security and Strategy in Beijing. “The boundary between AI safety and AI competition is becoming increasingly blurred,” added Sun, who has discussed AI with US counterparts. “If every safety question becomes interpreted through the lens of strategic competition, meaningful dialogue will be difficult.”In the summit lead-up, Communist Party officials also aired their own concerns. China’s cyberspace regulator released an AI safety governance framework to address emerging risks.
