Kathmandu, Sept 15: The United States and China are increasingly divided over the development, safety, ethical limits and regulation of artificial intelligence, raising concerns that AI governance could become another arena of strategic rivalry between the two powers.
Leading figures in the US technology industry have begun warning publicly about the dangers of unchecked AI development. Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, has proposed slowing the development of frontier AI models to give governments and companies more time to manage growing security risks.
Amodei has called for continuous monitoring of frontier AI companies by independent third-party evaluators, stronger industry-wide safety standards and greater international coordination on AI rules. He has also urged Washington to tighten restrictions on chip exports to China and take tougher action against Chinese AI laboratories engaged in “model distillation”.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and SpaceX founder Elon Musk have expressed support for Amodei’s position. Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon, who recently resigned, also warned that uncontrolled AI development could pose an existential threat to humanity. Speaking to ABC after his resignation, Coxon backed Amodei’s proposal but said the US must engage more closely with China.
Coxon described the prospect of building superintelligence as akin to inviting an alien species into the world. He said humanity could be creating a form of intelligence it does not fully understand or control.
Other Anthropic researchers have issued similar warnings, increasing pressure on US lawmakers and policymakers to introduce tougher safeguards for AI systems.
China, though, sees the US push differently. The state-backed Global Times has sharply criticised Amodei’s proposal, calling it a “Cold War playbook” aimed at containing China’s AI development. It accused Washington of seeking to preserve its dominance in advanced technology and exclude China from global AI governance.
The newspaper described the US approach as a “silent AI Cold War,” warning that excluding a major country such as China from global AI innovation could increase the risks and costs of trial and error in developing the technology.
China’s Foreign Ministry has also called for a more open and inclusive approach to AI governance. Spokesperson Guo Jiakun said Monday that exaggerating threats, pursuing confrontation and engaging in malicious competition would disrupt global AI governance and serve no country’s interests.
The debate has also exposed divisions within the United States. President Donald Trump has rejected calls from technology leaders and Democrats to slow AI development, arguing that maintaining US leadership over China is essential.
“We are ahead of China in AI,” Trump told reporters during a visit to his golf resort in Ireland. “Whoever wins AI will win the world,” he said, while accepting that some safeguards could be introduced.
Trump administration officials and Republican lawmakers have also opposed measures they believe could give China a competitive advantage. Former Trump AI adviser David Sacks urged AI companies to set their own pace, arguing that demanding regulatory approval as a condition for development could amount to pressuring the public and political system.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has also urged Americans not to panic, while echoing concerns about China.
The emerging dispute shows the central dilemma facing AI governance: slowing development may reduce safety risks, but unilateral restraint could also weaken a country’s strategic position. The US and China therefore face pressure to regulate a technology that both recognise as potentially dangerous, while neither wants to give the other an advantage. (Source: Agencies)
People’s News Monitoring Service
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