Kamala Harris Advocates for AI Development Treaty with China

<p>Former Vice President Kamala Harris has called for a slowdown in the development of advanced artificial intelligence, urging the United States to pursue a treaty with China. </p><p>“The United States must continue to lead the world in developing AI technology even as we seek to impose common-sense safety standards,” Harris stated on Monday. “The president must do his job to protect America’s interests by pursuing a treaty with countries like China to stop dangerous uses of AI, limit the speed of its development, and adopt global standards for testing.”</p><p>Harris's comments come amid a growing debate over AI, which was sparked by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's call for the industry to slow the development of increasingly capable systems. Prominent technology executives, including Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, have expressed support for Amodei’s proposal.</p><p>In response, China has criticized these warnings as “fearmongering.” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun reportedly stated, “Fearmongering, confrontation and malicious competition will only disrupt the process of global AI governance and serve no one’s interests.”</p><p>Concerns have been raised about whether China would comply with any treaty terms, given its history of not adhering to commitments made to the United States. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent labeled China an “unreliable partner” in April, citing its actions during the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran, where it allegedly stockpiled oil while global energy supplies were strained.</p><p>Bessent noted, “They continued buying, and they’ve been hoarding, and they have cut off exports of many products.” He added that China has been an unreliable global partner on multiple occasions in the past five years, including during the COVID pandemic when it hoarded healthcare products.</p><p>China also did not meet its purchase commitments outlined in the 2020 Phase One trade agreement with the United States, where it pledged to buy an additional $200 billion in American goods and services but ultimately did not fulfill that commitment, according to the Peterson Institute for International Economics.</p><p>David Sacks, former White House AI and cryptocurrency czar, expressed skepticism about China's willingness to participate in an international slowdown, stating, “China is very unlikely to join a global agreement, as you know, and that has to be taken into account as well.”</p><p>Palantir CEO Alex Karp echoed this sentiment, arguing that competition with China makes a unilateral American pause on AI development impractical. “If we didn’t have adversaries, I would be very in favor of pausing this technology completely, but we do,” Karp told CNBC. “You can’t pause it because it’s a structural advantage.”</p><p>Former President Donald Trump also opposed the idea of slowing AI development, stating, “We’re leading China in AI. We’re the most sophisticated country in the world, and frankly, I want to keep it that way because whoever wins AI, wins.”</p>