American AI development ‘cannot separate itself from China’: Zheng Yongnian

China and the United States must prevent their AI competition from escalating into a cold war, a top Chinese policy adviser has warned, while asserting that a complete decoupling would be difficult.

The remarks from Zheng Yongnian, a leading political scientist and dean of the school of public policy at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, come ahead of the Xi-Trump summit in Washington, where artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to be among the top items on the agenda.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping received a rare personal welcome from US President Donald Trump as he landed in Washington to begin his first state visit to the country since 2015. Their summit talks are expected to be steered by a desire to find common ground while managing risks as rivalry intensifies, with AI and its governance at the forefront.

According to Zheng, existing rules on the emerging technology are shaped by “sheer strength” and China’s role in AI development by the US remains “indispensable”.