US proposes AI incident alert system with China

The US has proposed a “notification mechanism” with China for artificial intelligence (AI) incidents that could affect national security, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said, according to reports by the Associated Press, CNN, NBC News, Forbes, the New York Times and the BBC.

Bessent was speaking to reporters in New York on 20 September after talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, the reports said.

China’s state news agency, Xinhua, said the two delegations “held dialogues on AI-related issues”, without giving details.

Xinhua’s account did not mention the proposal or say whether China had accepted it.

Bessent said the aim was a shared view of “common goals and common threats”, and that “moving from opaque to more transparency” between the world’s two leading AI powers was very important, according to the reports.

Xinhua described the wider consultations on economic and trade issues as “candid, in-depth and constructive”.

He Lifeng led the Chinese delegation, while Bessent headed the US side alongside US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, the agency said.

The two sides also discussed “the implementation of consensus reached in previous talks”, according to Xinhua, which said the consultations were guided by “the important consensus reached by the heads of state of the two countries”.

The talks took place ahead of a meeting between President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping at the White House on 24 September, the Associated Press reported.

Bessent and Greer said the two sides had agreed to put into operation a new Board of Trade, an idea Trump and Xi discussed when they met in Beijing in May, the agency reported.

Greer said officials were still discussing which items could be considered for lower tariffs, a list that could include consumer and agricultural goods, energy products and medical devices, according to the Associated Press.