Toggle Daily
US and Chinese officials discuss an AI risk warning mechanism before Trump meets Xi
September 21, 2026
Over about eight hours of talks in New York, Bessent and He Lifeng took up a system for alerting each other to serious AI incidents before the Trump-Xi summit.
Trump and Xi last met in Beijing in May, and the US-China trade truce is set to expire on November 10.
Key facts
- Greer said the talks lay the groundwork for a “successful summit” when Trump and Xi meet in Washington on Sept 24 and 25.
- Washington's crackdown on the cheap parcels that Shein and Temu depend on has worked, yet more than half of roughly 6,500 Chinese product categories bought by the US this year show growth over 2025.
- Bessent said, “We think that, just like with any cross-border activity, that moving from opaque to more transparency between the No. 1 and the No. 2 AI powers in the world is very important.”
- Before this week's summit, one big open issue is whether Trump and Xi agree to prolong a fragile trade truce that lapses on November 10.
- The meeting came with the shaky US-China trade truce due to end on November 10.
Scott Bessent, the US Treasury Secretary, spent about eight hours in New York talks with He Lifeng, China's vice premier, which ended on Sunday, with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at the table and a Trump-Xi summit days away. The New York Times reports that the two governments discussed a mechanism for warning each other when AI poses a threat to national security, and Bessent says Washington put the idea forward. Bessent said the shift “from opaque to more transparency” between the two leading AI powers matters. AP News carries written comments from George Chen of The Asia Group, who said, “The fact that both sides agreed to continue the dialogue is significant.” The Financial Times and Al Jazeera carry the same account of Bessent praising the AI dialogue before the leaders meet.
Reuters sets the meeting against trade. China's global trade surplus is on course to exceed $1 trillion for a second year running, Reuters reports, and Chinese sales to the US have grown this year in more than half of roughly 6,500 product categories even as US curbs on cheap parcels bite. Wu Xinbo, who advises China's foreign ministry and teaches at Fudan University in Shanghai, said, "China-US ties have become more transactional." NBC News reports Greer's assurance that the AI talks leave US controls on advanced chip exports in place, and it notes that the trade truce lapses on November 10 unless Trump and Xi extend it. The Straits Times reports plans for tariff cuts on goods outside sensitive sectors, with no immediate movement on critical minerals or export controls, and it quotes Representative Ro Khanna calling for a Trump-Xi deal on AI safety.
Bessent and Greer say the groundwork is in place for the leaders' meeting on Thursday. Al Jazeera and The Straits Times add that the two announced no progress on critical minerals, a separate issue Washington has pressed with Beijing. Chinese state media describe the exchanges as frank and constructive and say they covered AI, and NBC News notes that the Xinhua readout left out the US proposal. The accounts agree on the talks, the people in the room and the notification idea. Beijing's answer to the mechanism and the fate of the truce are still developing.
“The fact that both sides agreed to continue the dialogue is significant,” George Chen of The Asia Group said in written comments.
George Chen
Still developing
The Chinese readout of the talks mentions AI dialogue but not the notification system Washington proposed, and the Chinese officials at the talks did not comment to reporters.
How settled the reporting is
Sources
- AP News — Bessent: US proposes AI incident alert system in talks with China | AP News
- Reuters — Xi rolls into Trump summit with China's trade engine roaring | Reuters
- NBC News — U.S. proposes exchanging AI safety alerts with China, Bessent says - NBC News
- The New York Times — U.S. and China Discuss System to Warn of A.I. National Security Issues - The New York Times
- The Straits Times — AI alert system over national security concerns being discussed between US, China - The Straits Times
- Al Jazeera — US proposes AI safety notification mechanism in talks with China | Donald Trump News | Al Jazeera
- Financial Times — Scott Bessent hails US-China AI dialogue ahead of Trump-Xi meeting
Toggle read the full reports of 6 of the 7 outlets counted on this event. The other 1 are counted from their headlines and opening sentences.