An essay by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei calling for a slowdown in AI development may appear to be a measured argument centred on safety concerns, but China’s state-backed Global Times described it as a “Cold War playbook” aimed at Beijing.
In the essay published on Saturday, which was later backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and SpaceX founder Elon Musk, Amodei proposed a framework to regulate the pace of frontier AI development and allow more time to address growing safety concerns.
Amodei also called on the US to tighten restrictions on chip exports to China and take action against alleged model distillation practices by Chinese AI companies. Speaking to CBS News on Sunday, he said the “toughest dilemma” for his proposal would arise if China and other rival nations decided not to slow their own AI progress.
The Global Times tabloid argued that the underlying purpose of Amodei’s proposal was “to attempt to curb China's AI development through technological barriers and regulatory monopolies, uphold Washington's monopolistic hegemony in cutting-edge technology, and exclude China from the global AI governance system.”
It described what it called a “silent AI Cold War” as hypocritical and short-sighted, warning that keeping China out of global AI innovation could “significantly increase the trial-and-error costs and risks of loss of control in global AI development”.
US lawmakers have been pushing for stronger regulations governing AI systems following warnings from two Anthropic researchers that the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence could potentially result in human extinction in the not-too-distant future.
However, Trump rejected calls to slow AI development on Sunday, arguing that “very negative forces” were exaggerating the potential risks.
“We're leading China in AI. We're the most sophisticated country in the world, and frankly I want to keep it that way because whoever wins AI wins,” Trump said.
The US and China are expected to hold discussions on the safety risks associated with frontier AI in mid-September, according to sources. The issue could also come up during a planned September 24 summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
