Leaders from the United States and China disclosed a protocol on Thursday that outlines best-practice approaches to artificial intelligence, announced as President Donald Trump conducted a two-day summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described the development of the framework in remarks to CNBC on Thursday, emphasizing that Washington and Beijing - characterized as the two AI superpowers - are initiating structured discussions about how to prevent non-state actors from acquiring powerful AI models.
"The two AI superpowers are gonna start talking. We're gonna set up a protocol in terms of how do we go forward with best practices for AI to make sure non-state actors don't get a hold of these models," Bessent said.
Bessent elaborated on why these conversations were taking place, attributing them to the United States' current lead in AI capabilities. "The reason we are able to have wholesome discussions with the Chinese on AI is because we are in the lead," he said. "I do not think we would be having the same discussions if they were this far ahead of us."
On the technological front, Bessent said he expected a pronounced jump in capability in forthcoming large language model releases from Alphabet's Gemini and OpenAI, describing the anticipated updates as a step-function change.
Policy measures remain a central feature of the U.S. approach. Washington has imposed restrictions on the sale of advanced semiconductors to China - measures focused largely on chips from Nvidia - with the intent of limiting the pace of China's AI development. Nvidia's chief executive, Jensen Huang, joined President Trump's delegation to China as a late addition to the trip.
When asked about media reports that the U.S. had cleared sales of Nvidia's H200 AI chips to several large Chinese technology companies, Bessent acknowledged that the issue involved extensive discussion and negotiation. He described the matter as subject to "a lot of back and forth," without offering further detail on approvals or specific recipients.
Diplomatic dynamics beyond AI were also on display. Trump and Xi concluded their first major meeting of the week at 12 p.m. local time on Thursday. In Beijing's official readout, Xi stressed that Taiwan is the most important issue for bilateral relations and cautioned against mishandling the matter; Beijing asserts that Taiwan is part of its territory.
Bessent indicated that President Trump would provide additional comments on Taiwan in the days following the meeting.
The visit marks the first time a sitting U.S. president has traveled to China since 2017. The summit is scheduled to conclude on Friday.
Ahead of the Trump-Xi encounter, Bessent held a meeting on Wednesday in South Korea with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng.