By Michael Martina and Trevor Hunnicutt
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States and China will meet in Geneva to discuss advanced artificial intelligence on Tuesday, U.S. officials said, stressing that Washington’s policies will not be up for negotiation even as talks explore risk mitigation of emerging technology.
President Joe BidenThe country’s administration has sought to involve China on a series of issues to reduce the lack of communication between the two rivals. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi addressed the topic of AI in April in Beijing, where they agreed to hold their first formal bilateral talks on the subject.
The State Department has pressured China and Russia to live up to US statements that only humans, and never artificial intelligence, would make decisions about the use of nuclear weapons.
“This is the first meeting of its kind. So we hope to have a discussion on the full range of risks, but we wouldn’t prejudge any details at this time,” a senior administration official told reporters ahead of the meeting, when asked whether the U.S. would prioritize to the issue of nuclear weapons.
China’s rapid deployment of AI capabilities in the civilian, military and national security sectors has often undermined the security of the US and its allies, the official said, adding that the talks would allow Washington to directly communicate its concerns.
“To be very clear, negotiations with Beijing do not focus on promoting any form of technical collaboration or border investigation cooperation on any issue. And our technology protection policies are not up for negotiation,” the official added.
Reuters reported that the Biden administration plans to place barriers on US-developed proprietary AI models that power popular chatbots like ChatGPT to protect technology from countries like China and Russia.
A second US white paper said Washington and Beijing were competing to set the rules on AI, but also hoped to explore whether some rules could be “embraced by all countries”.
“We certainly don’t agree… on many AI topics and applications, but we believe that communicating about critical AI risks can make the world safer,” the second official said.
US National Security Council official Tarun Chhabra and Seth Center, the State Department’s acting special envoy for critical and emerging technologies, will lead talks with officials from China’s Foreign Ministry and state planner, the Commission. National Development and Reform.
US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer plans to issue recommendations in the coming weeks to address the risks of AI, which he says will then be translated into piecemeal legislation.
He cited competition with China and their divergent goals for AI, including surveillance and facial recognition applications, as a reason for the need for Washington to take the lead in crafting laws around the rapidly advancing technology.
Chinese authorities have emphasized the need for the country to develop its own “controllable” AI technology.
(Reporting by Michael Martina and Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by David Gregorio)
