Beijing issues AI warnings but rejects US calls to slow development

Beijing warned that AI advancements threatened China’s political, economic, and social stability even as it dismissed US calls to slow the technology’s development. China’s minister of state security wrote in a weekend essay that AI posed six principal risks from his perspective, including threatening the security of the country’s political regime, digital infrastructure, public order, and national defense.

The Global Times, a state-backed outlet, nevertheless characterized a recent essay by Anthropic’s CEO calling for slowing AI’s advance as out of the “Cold War playbook.” Still, some Chinese analysts have argued that Beijing should push for a superpower compact on AI, opting to “advance through concessions” in order to retain some sway over global regulation and access to key international markets.