Trump rules out joint US-China venture to develop AI
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Trump's Statement on AI Joint Venture
US President Donald Trump has ruled out any sort of joint venture with China in artificial intelligence (AI), arguing it would be like "giving away secrets" to America's main economic rival.
Speaking at an event in Washington on Tuesday, Trump again argued against putting any restrictions on the technology that could stifle future growth, despite mounting public concern.
Following Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to the White House last week, Beijing and Washington announced the launch of a new AI dialogue, with further talks scheduled for November. They also established a new communications channel to prevent misunderstandings during AI-related incidents.
During Tuesday's event marking the launch of America.gov - a new AI-powered website designed to streamline government services - Trump stated:
"If we do [a joint venture], we're going to be giving a lot of secrets that we have that they [China] would want to have, or anybody else." "Frankly, there is nobody in third place...it's all between us and China."
Trump added that while AI was discussed during his meeting with President Xi, he remains steadfast against any cooperation.
"Then they're going to be able to immediately gain access to things that we know that they don't know," he remarked, concluding: "We're leading now over China and everyone else, and I want to keep it that way."
Background
Prior to Trump's meeting with Xi, China's foreign ministry warned against "narratives of threat" and confrontation in AI governance. Domestically, Trump has faced increasing public concern over AI's potential dangers and calls for guardrails.
A recent poll found that two out of three Americans believe there is at least a "moderate" risk that AI could destroy humanity, with 44% of Trump supporters preferring to pause its development. However, the president has repeatedly dismissed these concerns as "hoax" and compared them to the "global warming scam".