On China and AI, the United States sends a mixed message on negotiations to ban this technology for nuclear purposes

The two sides met in May in Geneva, Switzerland, to hold initial talks on the use of AI in the management and deployment of nuclear weapons.

“I think both countries understand, to some extent, some of the challenges that AI presents for military command and control, particularly in the nuclear domain,” the No. 2 U.S. diplomat said.

But Tarun Chhabra, senior director for technology at the U.S. National Security Council, said Beijing disagrees with U.S. policy on the issue, departing from Campbell’s emphasis on dialogue.

“Our position has been publicly clear for a very long time. We don’t think an autonomous system should be close to a decision to launch a nuclear weapon,” Chhabra explained at the think tank event.

“This is a long-standing U.S. policy…widely accepted by our allies…but not accepted by China today.”

Chhabra also spoke on Monday about the intergovernmental negotiations on AI being held in Geneva.

Without specifying how or if the issue was raised, he said Washington has argued that “as these systems become more powerful, we should just have a place to talk about risk and security.”

“We kind of have to work and come to the table with similar views on where capacity is going and what risk and security might look like in that context,” Chhabra added.

Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said Beijing “has always opposed the use of artificial intelligence to seek absolute military advantage and hegemony.”

The military application of AI was one of the issues raised in Geneva, Liu added.

The State Department could not immediately be reached for comment.

The press release published shortly after the meeting of the two presidents, however, only vaguely mentioned the subject. It highlights “the need to address the risks of advanced AI systems and improve AI security through government negotiations between the United States and China.”

Two weeks after the meeting, Colonel Wu Qian of the Chinese Ministry of Defense urged “all countries, especially major countries, to adopt a prudent and responsible attitude towards research, development and the application of AI technologies in the military domain”.

Referring to related negotiations with the US side, Wu said Beijing is “ready to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with different parties, build consensus on regulating the military use of AI, avoid the “abusive, abusive and malicious use of the weapon systems concerned and to ensure human control over”. these weapon systems.