The US held secret talks on the regulation of artificial intelligence with Chinese experts
During the year 2023, the leading players in the American industry artificial intelligence they took part in secret talks with Chinese artificial intelligence experts during a series of secret meetings, it is reported DigiTimes.
On November 15, 2023, United States President Joe Biden met with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the annual summit in San Francisco. Shortly after the meeting, Biden announced that the two countries had agreed to address the risks and security issues associated with artificial intelligence by arranging for experts from both countries to meet.
According to the reports of the Financial Times, commitments and agreements aimed at regulation artificial intelligence through cooperation between China and the United States of America are supported by concrete efforts. During the year 2023, leading players in the US artificial intelligence industry held secret talks with Chinese experts during a series of secret meetings, according to reports. Conversations are rare in the field of technology exchange. They were allegedly conducted with the knowledge and approval of both governments.
These unknown talks were held in Geneva in July and October 2023. They brought together leading US artificial intelligence companies OpenAI, Anthropic and Cohere, along with US scientists and policy experts, for deliberations with representatives from China’s Tsinghua University and other institutions supported by the Chinese government.
One unnamed participant said: “If these participants do not reach agreement, we cannot establish international standards for the safety and consistency of artificial intelligence. If the US and China agree, it becomes easier to involve other countries“, the source added.
ShutterstockAlthough there is ongoing tension in the race for dominance in new technologies, especially artificial intelligence, between the US and China, the existence of these meetings in Geneva indicates continued communication in line with the statements from the summit by Biden and previous agreements. It is important to note that these meetings were organized with the knowledge of the governments of the USA, Great Britain and China.
The talks were facilitated by the political consulting firm Shaikh Group. Shaikh is a private mediation firm focused on fostering dialogue among key actors in conflict regions, particularly in the Middle East.
Salman Shaikh, Group CEO, said: “We saw an opportunity to bring together key AI players in the US and China. Our main goal is to highlight the vulnerability, risks and opportunities associated with the widespread implementation of artificial intelligence models around the world.”
Experts in the field of artificial intelligence talked about security
Discussions during the meetings reportedly covered the risks associated with new technologies and encouraged investment in AI security research. The meetings aimed to formulate a careful and systematic approach to advancing the development of artificial intelligence technology while ensuring security.
The results of the meetings include a mutual agreement on further discussions on how to harmonize artificial intelligence systems with the norms, values and legal regulations of each society in a scientific and technical way.
The talks, which include technical cooperation and policy proposals, reportedly played a key role in deliberations at the July 2023 UN Security Council meeting on artificial intelligence. Those secret talks also influenced the UK’s November 2023 AI summit.
However, major Chinese tech companies heavily invested in artificial intelligence, such as ByteDance, Tencent and Baidu, did not participate in the talks. UK-based Google DeepMind was reportedly aware of the details of the talks but did not attend the meetings.