AI: Behind the scenes US-China cooperation

...with a little help from tech/AI companies

Readers here know how I’ve been singularly focused on the US-China tug of war over geopolitics, technology and trade for a long time. It remains one of the most important headwinds to the AI Tech Wave that has hundreds of billions in capital being deployed in both the private and public markets. And how important it has been from my perspective for the US and China to continue to ‘thread the needle’ in their relationships despite their intense local politics and security biases. And the ups and downs in their ongoing interactions.

Now it’s encouraging to see that both governments are continuing to thread the needle via corporate proxies, at the start of the year. The FT in “US companies and Chinese experts engaged in secret diplomacy on AI Safety” provides the context:

“Artificial intelligence companies OpenAI, Anthropic and Cohere have engaged in secret diplomacy with Chinese AI experts, amid shared concern about how the powerful technology may spread misinformation and threaten social cohesion.  According to multiple people with direct knowledge, two meetings took place in Geneva in July and October last year attended by scientists and policy experts from the North American AI groups, alongside representatives of Tsinghua University and other Chinese state-backed institutions.”

“Attendees said the talks allowed both sides to discuss the risks from the emerging technology and encourage investments in AI safety research. They added that the ultimate goal was to find a scientific path forward to safely develop more sophisticated AI technology.  “There is no way for us to set international standards around AI safety and alignment without agreement between this set of actors,” said one person present at the talks. “And if they agree, it makes it much easier to bring the others along.” 

This of course is great to see, especially given since the intense ongoing debate over AI Speed vs Safety in the AI industry. It’s good to see that the above discussions had the tacit green light from their governments and their regulator proxies:

“The previously unreported talks are a rare sign of Sino-US co-operation amid a race for supremacy between the two major powers in the area of cutting-edge technologies such as AI and quantum computing. Currently, Washington has blocked US exports of the high-performance chips made by the likes of Nvidia that are needed to develop sophisticated AI software.” 

“But the topic of AI safety has become a point of common interest between developers of the technology across both countries, given the potential existential risks for humanity. The Geneva meetings were arranged with the knowledge of the White House as well as that of UK and Chinese government officials, according to a negotiator present, who declined to be named. The White House declined to comment.”

That it’s happening in Geneva and ‘neutral’ Switzerland is another appropriate icing on the ‘threading the needle’ cake. Let’s hope this tail wind of cooperation continues against the broader geopolitical headwinds for the AI Tech Wave. It’s a long road ahead. Stay tuned.

(NOTE: The discussions here are for information purposes only, and not meant as investment advice at any time. Thanks for joining us here)