WASHINGTON: China and the United States agreed to set up a “communication channel” for artificial intelligence incidents, both sides said, after a Washington summit between President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump.
Donald Trump and Xi Jinping discussed matters ranging from AI and trade to the Iran war, and confirmed that they would meet for a third and fourth time this year at international summits in China and the United States.
The White House said on Friday the nations agreed to establish a “bilateral communication channel” for AI incidents.
Chinese state media confirmed the AI hotline was agreed in a report about the summit’s outcomes on Saturday.
While Trump has repeatedly dismissed fears that AI could pose a threat to humanity, Xi took a more measured tone, noting the technology must develop under human control.
Trump said the meeting was “one of Friendship, Strength, and Success, for both China and the USA.”
“We’ve made great strides, very positive for both countries,” Trump told reporters as he had tea with Xi at the White House on Friday before the archives trip.
Trump rolled out the red carpet throughout the visit, treating Xi to a state banquet full of US tech titans, plus military parades, a flyover and even a tour of his new White House helipad and ballroom.
For his part, Xi said his Washington trip had added “new substance” to his summit with Trump in Beijing in May.
The Chinese leader added that they had agreed to “strategic stability on the basis of respect, fairness, and reciprocity.”
The announcement that the two leaders would continue their dialogue was perhaps the biggest deliverable for both sides.
Both leaders confirmed they would meet again at the APEC summit in Shenzen, China, in November and the G20 forum at Trump’s Doral resort in Miami in December.
Trump confirmed during the archive visit that the two leaders had discussed the US-Israeli war in Iran.
Asked if he thought there would be progress on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, which is crucial for the flow of oil, Trump replied: “I think we’re going to do great.”
China ‘respects’ Trump’s ‘super intelligence’ switch from AI
China “respects” Washington’s switch in phrasing from artificial intelligence to “super intelligence”, the foreign ministry said on Saturday, after Trump said Xi appeared to like the rewording.
The US president announced on Tuesday that his administration would rename AI as “super intelligence”, or SI, in official communications.
The technology was high on the agenda during the summit between the US and Chinese leaders in Washington this week.
“Like almost everyone else, (Xi) seemed to like calling the poorly and inaccurately named Artificial Intelligence to a far more accurate and important name, SUPER INTELLIGENCE,” Trump wrote on his social media platform after talks with Xi.
Beijing’s foreign ministry said on Saturday it “attaches importance” to Trump’s adoption of the term.
“Regarding the artificial intelligence phrasing question, the Chinese side attaches importance to the US side’s position and respects the US side’s wording,” the ministry said in a statement.
“Artificial intelligence technologies are continuously developing; all parties can strengthen exchanges, discuss in-depth and seek consensus in light of the latest situation,” said the statement from a foreign ministry spokesperson said.
