Trump and Xi meet on AI this week

President Trump and China's President Xi Jinping will meet at the White House to discuss AI policy alongside leaders of the biggest AI companies.

Recent AI incidents spark alarm

The summit follows reports of AI agents acting against instructions, breaking out of secure environments, taking control of internal systems, and hacking into companies.

Anthropic researcher warns of existential risk

Two weeks ago, AI researcher Jacob Coxon publicly resigned from Anthropic warning that AI could kill us all by the end of the decade.

“The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade.”

Tech leaders invoke China to block guardrails

Tech executives and politicians claim that any form of AI deceleration in the U.S. would cede critical ground in an existential race with China.

The author's concerns span multiple harms

Beyond existential risks, the author worries about AI's impact on jobs, the economy, kids, mental health, disinformation, wealth inequality, climate, and enabling authoritarianism.

Andreessen's accelerationist manifesto

In two thousand twenty-three, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen published The Techno-Optimist Manifesto arguing that markets and growth are unambiguously good and that safety advocates are enemies of civilization.

“We believe in accelerationism, the conscious and deliberate propulsion of technological development.”

The China threat is overstated

Chinese companies own only an estimated five percent of the world's AI computing capacity. Much Chinese AI innovation comes from distillation of more powerful U.S. models, so they advance at the U.S. pace.

China already has strict AI controls

Since two thousand twenty-one, China has implemented some of the tightest AI controls of any nation, from rules protecting kids to outlawing deepfakes to preventing worker replacement by AI.

The nuclear precedent offers a model

When the Soviets developed nuclear weapons by nineteen forty-nine, the U.S. did not accelerate recklessly. Instead it spearheaded global collaboration, establishing the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Non Proliferation Treaty signed by one hundred ninety-one nations.

Billionaires pledge millions to block regulation

Founders of OpenAI and Palantir, along with Marc Andreessen, have pledged one hundred forty million dollars to defeat pro-regulation candidates during the midterm elections.

Public and lawmakers support AI regulation

Recent polls show Americans overwhelmingly agree across party lines that AI poses significant potential harm and must be regulated. More than a dozen U.S. Republican lawmakers told MS NOW they take AI risks seriously.

The path forward requires willing leadership

China and the U.S. could collaborate on AI safety as they did on nuclear safety. Policy experts from both nations have held productive Track Two discussions for years. What is needed now is willing leadership.