Trump rejects joint US-China AI venture at America.gov launch

US, China schedule further AI talks for November

Trump spoke at an event in Washington on Tuesday marking the launch of America.gov, an AI-powered website designed to streamline federal government services. He used the occasion to rule out any joint cooperation with China on artificial intelligence, arguing that sharing the technology would amount to handing America’s secrets to its chief economic rival.

“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,” Trump said, according to the BBC. He added: “Frankly, there is nobody in third place…it’s all between us and China.” Trump said the United States is “leading by a lot” in AI and does not want to “mix it up” with competitors.

The president said the topic of AI arose during his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House the previous week, but that he remains opposed to joint cooperation on the technology regardless. “Then they’re going to be able to immediately gain access to things that we know that they don’t know,” he said. “We’re leading now over China and everyone else, and I want to keep it that way.”

Trump also argued more broadly against putting any restrictions on the technology that would stifle growth in the future, despite mounting public concern, the BBC reported.

The remarks come against the backdrop of a US-China AI dialogue announced after Xi’s White House visit. Beijing and Washington also established a new communications channel aimed at preventing misunderstandings during AI-related incidents, with further talks scheduled for November.

Prior to Trump’s meeting with Xi, China’s foreign ministry warned that “narratives of threat” and confrontation hinder AI governance.

Domestically, Trump has faced mounting public concern over the potential dangers of AI and calls for additional guardrails. A Politico poll published in late September found that two of every three Americans believes there is at least a “moderate” risk that AI could destroy humanity. Among Trump supporters polled, 44% said they would prefer if AI development could be paused.

The US president has repeatedly dismissed AI safety concerns, referring to them as a “hoax” and comparing them to the “global warming scam” he claims is “being perpetrated by radical left Dumocrats.”