# America must compete and cooperate with China on AI

> The U.S. needs to outpace China technologically while working together on AI safety risks that threaten both nations.
- Title: America must compete and cooperate with China on AI · TIME
- Summary: The U.S. needs to outpace China technologically while working together on AI safety risks that threaten both nations. The former U.S. Commerce Secretary…
- Keywords: china, united states, artificial intelligence, technology competition, export controls, ai safety, semiconductors, donald trump, xi jinping, America, must, compete
- Source: TIME — https://time.com/article/2026/10/01/the-u-s-must-compete-and-cooperate-with-china-on-ai
- Author: Gina Raimondo
- Published: 2026-10-01T10:30:03.915+00:00
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: china, united states, artificial intelligence, technology competition, export controls, ai safety, semiconductors, donald trump, xi jinping
## Trump and Xi meet at the White House
President Donald Trump hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House last week. It was their second meeting this year, following the May summit in Beijing.
## AI security breaches across both nations
Security incidents have been reported from nearly every major AI company, American and Chinese, built on both open and closed models. Leading AI labs are debating whether to pace their frontier model development.
## The dual challenge: compete and cooperate
The U.S. must outcompete China on AI technology while also working with China on addressing the risks posed by AI. Competition and cooperation are often in tension, but the stakes are too high to pick only one.
## China's incentive to manage AI risks
The Chinese Minister of State Security said the greatest risk advanced AI poses to China is the risk it poses to the stability of the Chinese Communist Party. Both countries have incentives to align on safety standards.

> the greatest risk advanced AI poses to China is the risk it poses to the stability of the Chinese Communist Party
## Treasury signals openness to AI dialogue
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a possible AI dialogue with Chinese counterparts after his meeting with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. This signals China sees space for cooperation on AI safety.
## Distillation campaigns drain American AI
Anthropic attributed more than sixteen million Claude exchanges to distillation campaigns. Over three million of these can be traced back to China's Moonshot AI and other Chinese labs like Alibaba and DeepSeek.
## Tighten chip export controls with allies
The U.S. must continuously update export controls on leading-edge chips and tighten gaps in semiconductor manufacturing equipment controls. This work requires coordination with Dutch, Japanese, and German allies who manufacture chipmaking equipment.
## AI labs must expose distillation theft
American AI labs should allocate greater resources to finding and exposing distillation activity so policymakers and the public can adapt accordingly. China's competitive models are ripping off American ones to some degree.
## Safe AI requires managing China relationship
Safe deployment of AI is only possible if the U.S. successfully manages its relationship with China by maintaining its technological lead and working towards collaboration on safety standards and risk management.
## Key takeaway

The former U.S. Commerce Secretary argues the U.S. must simultaneously compete with China on AI technology and cooperate on safety standards to protect American interests.