Khanna calls for AI treaty

Rep. Ro Khanna, top Democrat on the House Select Committee on China, is calling for a treaty between the US and China to control artificial intelligence risks.

He questions both leaders

Khanna says President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping both lack the necessary urgency to rein in AI's risks after their recent White House meeting.

Letters to Chinese AI firms

Khanna sent letters to DeepSeek, Alibaba, and Moonshot AI asking about their efforts to achieve superintelligence and recursive self-improvement, and whether they would accept inspections.

The core argument

In his letter to the Director of National Intelligence, Khanna writes that American and Chinese interests differ on many issues, but both countries benefit from preventing humanity losing control of AI.

“[I]t benefits neither country for humanity to lose control of our destiny”

What Khanna wants assessed

Khanna asked the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to evaluate how the US might respond if an AI lab lost control of its bots, and how China assesses catastrophic AI risks.

Skeptical of tech company meetings

Khanna dismisses a planned White House meeting with tech executives as a branding exercise, questioning why companies motivated by profit should make safety rules.

“Why should we trust companies that have a motive to maximize profits to be making the rules for what is safe?”

Trump resists regulation

Trump posted on Truth Social that he wants to leave superintelligence exactly where it is, and House Speaker Mike Johnson warned against losing the AI race against China.

“Super Intelligence (SI) will be a big topic of discussion, but I want to leave it exactly where it is.”

Chinese companies unlikely to respond

Khanna acknowledges Chinese AI companies did not respond to his earlier letter asking them to slow development. His goal is to shame them and spark debate about safety among Chinese firms.

Khanna's longer-term push

Khanna ultimately seeks a treaty banning recursive self-improvement and monitoring frontier AI labs, but recognizes this is unlikely soon. He proposes a working group with experts from both countries to suggest safety recommendations.

Scientists, not CEOs, should lead

Khanna says world leaders are out of touch with scientists and technologists in their own countries. He wants engineers who understand AI risks driving the debate, not CEOs or politicians lacking technical expertise.