US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called China’s rapid progress in artificial intelligence the « biggest risk » facing the United States during a speech at the Economic Club of New York on June 24. While acknowledging that the US currently leads by a substantial margin, he warned about intellectual property theft and floated the possibility of sanctions against Chinese firms accused of copying US AI models. He oversees the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the agency that administers US sanctions. Following the May 2026 summit between Presidents Trump and Xi Jinping, both countries agreed to formal bilateral discussions on AI governance, scheduled to begin in September during Xi’s planned visit to the US around September 24. These talks will focus on preventing advanced AI technologies from reaching non-state actors, an area where US and Chinese interests align.
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