After years of observing U.S.-China dialogues on artificial intelligence, one pattern is hard to miss. The agenda has actually expanded over the past two years. From military AI to frontier model risks, from biosecurity to cybersecurity, the topics under discussion are not few. Disinformation, however, has barely entered the conversation, let alone become a subject of cooperation. In existing international discussions, it usually surfaces as accusation. I want to ask whether it can move from being a topic of accusation to being a problem the two countries handle together.

Despite intensifying U.S.-China competition in AI, both countries share a strong interest in cooperating on AI safety, as advanced and potentially misaligned AI systems could pose existential risks to humanity. Joint risk assessment, coordination against malicious AI actors, and expanded academic collaboration could help reduce these threats and improve global AI governance.

The startling breakthrough moment in artificial intelligence and the commensurate concentration of power into the hands of a few tech giants may lead to an intensification of geopolitical competition. China is positioned to play a major constructive role for the well-being of humanity.

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.