Artificial intelligence, secret summit between US and Chinese companies

US artificial intelligence companies OpenAI, Anthropic and Cohere have set up a secret channel of 'diplomacy' with Chinese Ai experts to discuss common concerns about the powerful technology. This is revealed by the Financial Times, which refers to several people with knowledge of the facts. In July and October last year, two meetings took place in Geneva attended by scientists and policy experts from American Ai groups, along with representatives from Tsinghua University and other Chinese state institutions. The participants said the talks allowed both sides to discuss the risks of the emerging technology and encourage investment in Ai security research. They added that the ultimate goal is to find a scientific path to safely develop more sophisticated Ai technology.

"There is no way to establish international standards on security and the alignment of Ai without an agreement between this group of actors," said a source questioned by Ft. "And if they agree, it's much easier to get others on board." The talks, so far unreported, are a rare sign of Sino-US cooperation in a race for supremacy between the two great powers in cutting-edge technologies such as Ai and quantum computing. Currently, Washington has blocked US exports of chips produced by the likes of Nvidia, which are needed to develop sophisticated artificial intelligence software.

But the topic of Ai security has become a common point of interest among technology developers in both countries, given the potential existential risks to humanity. According to a negotiator present, who declined to be named, the Geneva meetings were organised after briefing White House and British and Chinese government officials. "China supports the efforts to discuss Ai governance and develop necessary frameworks, norms and standards based on broad consensus," said the Chinese embassy in the UK when asked by Ft.