The US Wants China to Start Talking About AI Weapons

When US President Joe Biden meets with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in the San Francisco Bay Area this week, the pair will have a long list of matters to discuss, including the Israel-Hamas war and Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Behind the scenes at the APEC summit, however, US officials hope to strike up a dialogue with China about placing guardrails around military use of artificial intelligence, with the ultimate goal of lessening the potential risks that rapid adoption--and reckless use--of the technology might bring. "We have a collective interest in reducing the potential risks from the deployment of unreliable AI applications," because of risks of unintended escalation, says a senior State Department official familiar with recent efforts to broach the issue, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "We very much hope to have a further conversation with China on this issue." Biden's meeting with Xi this week may provide momentum for more military dialogue.