{"slug": "u-s-and-china-keep-racing-to-ai-dominance-bessent-says-there-is-space-for", "title": "U.S. And China Keep Racing To AI Dominance. Bessent Says There Is Space For Cooperation Nonetheless.", "summary": "Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the United States is open to discussing shared artificial intelligence risks with China, telling Axios that \"we are open to discussions on avoiding shared risks and avoiding bifurcation of our two systems.\" Bessent is scheduled to meet Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in New York for several hours of talks covering AI, trade, rare earth minerals and other economic issues, ahead of a planned September 24 summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington. Bessent said the discussions are expected to cover both open and closed weight models.", "body_md": "# U.S. And China Keep Racing To AI Dominance. Bessent Says There Is Space For Cooperation Nonetheless.\n\n## Bessent is scheduled to meet with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in New York as part of broader negotiations covering artificial intelligence, trade, rare earth minerals and other economic issues.\n\nThe United States is open to discussing potential shared risks from [artificial intelligence](https://www.ibtimes.com/topic/ai) with [China](https://www.ibtimes.com/topic/china) as officials from both countries prepare for economic and technology talks, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.\n\n\"The United States remains the leader in AI. And we are open to discussions on avoiding shared risks and avoiding bifurcation of our two systems,\" Bessent said in a [statement to Axios](https://www.axios.com/2026/09/16/us-open-ai-shared-risks-china-bessent). \"We expect our discussions to cover both open and closed weight models.\"\n\nBessent is scheduled to meet with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in [New York](https://www.ibtimes.com/topic/new-york) as part of broader negotiations covering artificial intelligence, trade, rare earth minerals and other economic issues. The meetings are expected to last several hours, with additional working-level discussions potentially continuing into Monday, according to sources familiar with the talks.\n\nThe AI discussions come as both governments face growing pressure to address the risks associated with rapidly advancing artificial intelligence systems while maintaining their competitive positions.\n\nThe [Trump](https://www.ibtimes.com/topic/trump) administration has [rejected calls](https://www.ibtimes.com/trump-rejects-pacing-ai-development-takes-anthropics-amodei-pretending-perfect-little-3807416) from some technology leaders and researchers to slow AI development, arguing that the United States must continue advancing quickly in competition with China.\n\nAt the same time, officials have increasingly discussed the need for coordination on certain AI risks, including safety standards and the potential consequences of increasingly powerful models.\n\nBessent's involvement places him at the center of the administration's economic and technology discussions with Beijing. Alongside United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Bessent has become one of the administration's main officials handling China-related negotiations, according to a senior administration official cited by the outlet.\n\nThe Treasury secretary has also played a role in broader AI policy discussions within the administration. He was among the cabinet officials who joined President Donald Trump during a June G7 press conference focused on a U.S.-led effort to coordinate international approaches to artificial intelligence.\n\nCommerce Secretary Howard Lutnick previously led high-profile AI discussions during the G20 summit in North Carolina, while Bessent has taken a leading role in the administration's engagement with China.\n\nThe upcoming meetings come ahead of a planned September 24 summit between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington, adding another layer of importance to the talks.\n\nAI executives have increasingly called for cooperation between Washington and Beijing on safety standards, arguing that some risks associated with advanced AI systems could affect countries regardless of political boundaries.\n\nChinese officials have also expressed support for international cooperation on AI development while criticizing proposals that they say could slow innovation. [The Chinese Foreign Ministry said this week](https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/news/20260915de50251/) that \"all parties should jointly promote the open and inclusive development of AI for good and for all,\" while warning against what it described as \"fear-mongering\" around the technology.\n\nOne issue likely to arise in discussions is the future of AI models with different levels of access. Open-weight models allow developers and researchers to access and modify a model's underlying parameters, while closed-weight models restrict access and are controlled by the companies that develop them.\n\n© Copyright IBTimes 2026. All rights reserved.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/u-s-and-china-keep-racing-to-ai-dominance-bessent-says-there-is-space-for", "canonical_source": "https://www.ibtimes.com/us-china-keep-racing-ai-dominance-bessent-says-there-space-cooperation-nonetheless-3807556", "published_at": "2026-09-17 15:28:18+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-09-17 16:25:44.857367+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-policy", "artificial-intelligence"], "entities": ["Scott Bessent", "He Lifeng", "United States", "China", "Donald Trump", "Xi Jinping", "Jamieson Greer", "Howard Lutnick"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/u-s-and-china-keep-racing-to-ai-dominance-bessent-says-there-is-space-for", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/u-s-and-china-keep-racing-to-ai-dominance-bessent-says-there-is-space-for.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/u-s-and-china-keep-racing-to-ai-dominance-bessent-says-there-is-space-for.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/u-s-and-china-keep-racing-to-ai-dominance-bessent-says-there-is-space-for.jsonld"}}