Trump Rules Out Joint US-China Venture to Develop AI

President Donald Trump on Tuesday ruled out any joint venture with China to develop artificial intelligence, saying such cooperation would be tantamount to “giving away secrets” to America’s main economic rival.

The remarks came at a Washington event marking the launch of America.gov, an AI-powered government services portal, and followed Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the White House last week.

After that meeting, Beijing and Washington announced a new AI dialogue and a communications channel intended to prevent misunderstandings during AI-related incidents, with further talks scheduled for November.

Trump argued the United States was “leading by a lot” in the AI sector and did not want to “mix it up” with potential competitors. “If we do that, we’re going to be giving a lot of secrets that we have that they [China] would want to have, or anybody else,” he said. “Frankly, there is nobody in third place...it’s all between us and China.”

He said the topic of AI came up during his meeting with Xi, but he remained opposed to joint cooperation. “Then they’re going to be able to immediately gain access to things that we know that they don’t know,” Trump said.

Prior to the summit, China’s foreign ministry warned that “narratives of threat” and confrontation were hindering AI governance.

At a White House lunch with government agencies and technology companies including OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta, Trump said attendees favored “tremendous self-regulation.” He told reporters that technology leaders had signed a “morally binding” document meant to serve as a “form of protection” from AI hazards.

Trump also signed an executive order Tuesday afternoon formally changing the name of AI to “Super Intelligence” in government documents, and said a “Super Intelligence Czar” would likely be named in the coming days.

Public concern over AI safety remains elevated. A Politico poll published in late September found two of every three Americans believe there is at least a “moderate” risk that AI could destroy humanity, and 44% of Trump supporters polled said they would prefer a pause in AI development.

Trump has repeatedly dismissed safety concerns as a “hoax,” comparing them to what he called the “global warming scam” being “perpetrated by radical left Dumocrats.”

The next bilateral AI talks are scheduled for November, but the White House has not named a Super Intelligence Czar.

Reporting by BBC News. Read the original report: Trump rules out joint US-China venture to develop AI.