If China and the United States can build on the positive momentum created through leader-level diplomacy, improving communication and crisis-management mechanisms, and can continue achieving practical outcomes, then the idea of a constructive strategic stability relationship will solidify.

As discussions grow around the upcoming visit by U.S. President Donald Trump, much attention has focused on tariffs, trade, and semiconductors. Many expect that artificial intelligence will also feature prominently on the agenda.

Looking back over the past period, even as technological competition between China and the U.S. has intensified, the two sides have also made some constructive progress in cooperation on artificial intelligence (AI).

When Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump meet in Beijing on May 14-15, both are looking to stabilize the volatile and fraught U.S.-China relationship. Significant and diverse differences between the two sides will endure long beyond the summit meeting, but overall stabilization and progress on ten specific policy areas is achievable.

After the 2024 presidential election in the United States, a rising political right wing in Silicon Valley formed a “tech-political complex” with the Trump administration. Centered on tech acceleration and tech nationalism, it is pushing for military-civil integration, technological blockades against China and deregulation of the technology sector.

Advances in AI and robotics, highlighted by rapid progress in China, are driving a “Robot Revolution” that will reshape work, production, and global power. Countries that lead in developing humanoid robots are poised to gain major economic and strategic advantages.

Chinese AI startup Moonshot’s chatbot Kimi closely mirrors Anthropic’s Claude, highlighting how imitation, distillation, and API compatibility have become common practices in the global AI race. The episode underscores how cost, geopolitics, and weak cross-border enforcement shape AI competition alongside innovation.

The Munich Security Conference reveals a shift in transatlantic ties as AI security becomes central to global debate. Europe is increasingly linking AI policy to technological autonomy, seeking to balance cooperation with the United States while strengthening its own strategic capabilities.

In November 2024, US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping made their first substantive joint statement about the national-security risks posed b