US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent held discussions with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in New York on September 20, 2026. The talks focused on establishing a bilateral notification mechanism for national security-level AI incidents between the two nations.
The proposed framework aims to create a formal channel for sharing information regarding serious AI-related threats. This initiative follows initial discussions between President Trump and President Xi held in May 2026 regarding a broader US-China AI dialogue.
Export controls on advanced AI chips are explicitly excluded from these negotiations. Washington maintains these restrictions as a separate policy tool, while simultaneously expressing concerns over Chinese firms using model distillation to train their own systems.
Bessent previously identified China's AI advancements as a primary technological risk for the United States. The current push for transparency highlights the ongoing challenges in managing AI safety protocols between the world's two largest AI developers.
