US, China Must Ensure AI Develops Under "Human Control": Xi At White House

In his opening remarks at the White House, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that the United States and China have a responsibility to ensure that artificial intelligence develops under "human control" and "for good".

"We have both the capability and responsibility to develop and manage AI for good and ensure that the development of AI is always under human control," he said at the White House.

However, he did not specify exactly what rules or safeguards the two countries would choose to adopt in order for AI to develop responsibly.

#WATCH | Washington, DC: At the White House, Chinese President Xi Jinping says, "China and the United States are different in national conditions, but through candid, in-depth, and continued dialogue, our two countries can understand each other better, seek common ground while… pic.twitter.com/6WBtsklR4j

— ANI (@ANI) September 24, 2026

US President Donald Trump and Xi have placed artificial intelligence at the forefront of their bilateral agenda, but neither announced an AI agreement or set out a joint plan in the remarks.

Ahead of the bilateral meeting, Trump explicitly stated via his Truth Social platform that he wants to leave AI governance exactly where it is. 

"A big day with President Xi of China. Super Intelligence (SI) will be a big topic of discussion, but I want to leave it exactly where it is. That is China's position also. Our guardrail is the DOJ!", he wrote.

The two countries' finance ministers met earlier this week, with the US proposing a new "notification mechanism" for AI incidents between the two nations.

Earlier, Trump welcomed the Chinese leader to the White House for a lavish state visit. Trump shook hands with Xi at the start of a day full of pomp and pageantry, but their talks are expected to focus on tense issues, particularly how to handle the rising challenges posed by artificial intelligence.

AI Slowdown Calls

Artificial intelligence is also set to dominate the summit amid growing fears that it risks wiping out humanity even as China and the United States race for supremacy in the field.

The summit comes amid recent calls from industry leaders to slow down the development of cutting-edge artificial intelligence after an extensive essay published by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei-which was subsequently endorsed by tech figures like OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Elon Musk.

China's Foreign Ministry labeled the slowdown proposal fear-mongering and said that "confrontation, competition will disrupt the process of global AI governance.

"Fear-mongering, confrontation, competition will just disrupt [the] process of global AI governance," Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry said.