U.S. media urges U.S. government to face reality: Restricting China's AI development is ineffective—cooperation with China is the way forward
On the 13th, The New York Times published an article calling on the United States to acknowledge that it can no longer outpace China in the field of artificial intelligence, and that it is time to shift course and consider cooperation with China.
The reporter from The New York Times who wrote this piece claimed he recently visited several Chinese AI companies. He found that even under U.S. government restrictions on chip exports, Chinese tech firms continue rapidly advancing their AI models and applying them across multiple sectors such as intelligent driving in automobiles and smart manufacturing in factories. The U.S. containment and suppression policies have failed to slow down China’s pace of AI development.
Therefore, The New York Times calls on the U.S. government to abandon its export control policies targeting China and instead work hand-in-hand with China. This includes recognizing China’s status as a “technological superpower” and signing an AI safety agreement similar to the Non-Proliferation Treaty on Nuclear Weapons, aimed at preventing misuse of AI technologies by terrorists or criminal organizations.
To be fair, The New York Times’ proposal carries certain positive implications. The United States indeed needs to reflect on its long-standing strategy of containing China in the technology sector and move toward more pragmatic dialogue and collaboration.
However, the idea put forward by The New York Times—that the U.S. and China should jointly manage AI technology safety—still requires careful scrutiny.
It is undoubtedly correct for nations to collectively prevent dangerous misuse of AI technology. But what this proposal actually reveals is that Americans have come to realize they can no longer easily win the AI "race," and are now attempting to set rules through institutional means to draw boundaries around China’s technological advancement in AI.
If such a potential agreement includes requirements for technical transparency, it could force China to disclose its core technology roadmaps—this kind of practice, using treaty clauses to obstruct another nation’s technological progress, is a familiar tactic employed by the United States.
Therefore, even if future consultations between the U.S. and China take place on these issues, any agreement must be based on equality, mutual benefit, and mutual respect, fully safeguarding each country’s right to independently develop AI technologies, rather than placing technological advancement under the so-called necessity of external approval.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1862443649494023/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.