Senator Chris Coons has urged President Trump to prioritize artificial intelligence safety during upcoming talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Coons compared the necessity of bilateral cooperation to Cold War nuclear arms negotiations, citing the rapid pace of AI development.
The senator highlighted a significant disparity in semiconductor production, noting that the US manufactures over 10 million advanced AI chips annually, while China produces approximately 200 000. Coons aims to maintain this 50-to-1 ratio through legislative action.
Coons is advocating for the SAFE Chips Act, which seeks to codify export restrictions on high-end semiconductors, such as Nvidia H-series GPUs. This move aims to replace current executive-branch controls with permanent statutes that are harder to reverse.
The two leaders previously discussed AI guardrails and the export of Nvidia H200 chips during a meeting in Beijing in May 2026, though no formal agreement was reached. China has publicly declared its ambition to lead the global AI sector by 2030.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman supported the call for a bilateral safety treaty, suggesting such an agreement could merit a Nobel Peace Prize. However, experts note that unlike nuclear arms treaties, AI lacks established verification mechanisms like physical inspections.
