China Rejects Framing AI Rivalry as ‘Malicious Competition’

What changed

China rejected claims that AI governance should be framed as a contest of “threat, confrontation, and malicious competition,” calling instead for development that is “open, inclusive, beneficial to all, and oriented toward the good,” according to BBC News.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun’s remarks came as US AI leaders called for slower development and stronger safeguards. Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei has urged a slowdown, while President Donald Trump has prioritised ensuring that the US develops AI faster than China.

China and the US are competing for an advantage in advanced technology. Despite US export bans on critical chips, Chinese innovation has continued through open-source technology and government support. Many experts still consider the US ahead, while Chinese firms face difficulty matching the hundreds of billions of dollars invested in American AI.

Beijing is also promoting its own approach to AI governance. In July, China established the World AI Cooperation Organisation. At the BRICS summit in India on Sunday, President Xi Jinping proposed creating a community for open-source AI.

Why it matters

The dispute shows why a US-China agreement to slow or regulate advanced AI is difficult. Both countries recognise risks from the technology, but both also treat it as central to national security and economic power.

Chinese officials have called for AI laws, ethical guidelines and stronger risk prevention. State security minister Chen Yixin warned that foreign intelligence services and other “hostile forces” could use AI. Analysts say China also has technical reasons to cooperate with the US: observing how models are deployed abroad could help Chinese developers identify vulnerabilities.

But Chang Jun Yan of Singapore’s S Rajaratnam School of International Studies said an agreement on slowing AI development was “next to impossible” because it would affect core national security interests.

The US debate is similarly divided. Former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxson warned that continued rapid development could pose an immediate threat to humanity. OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman said safety and alignment techniques must stay ahead of model capabilities, while Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella said AI development could not be controlled by only a handful of entities.

What to watch next

• Whether China’s proposals produce concrete cooperation with the US, such as shared safety practices, technical exchanges or regular talks.
• Whether open-source development and government backing help Chinese firms narrow the gap with US companies despite chip restrictions.
• Whether US warnings lead to tighter regulation, or whether Trump’s emphasis on maintaining America’s lead keeps development focused on speed.