Sam Liccardo, Kevin Kiley want China AI talks

Originally published in Punchbowl News 

By Ben Brody 

Reps. Sam Liccardo (D-Calif.) and Kevin Kiley (I-Calif.) are laying out a framework Tuesday for how the U.S. government and artificial intelligence experts can begin engaging with their counterparts in China on the technology.

The proposal is landing days before President Donald Trump hosts Chinese President Xi Jinping for a summit. The two are expected to touch on rising fears about the risks that AI at the advanced “frontier” might pose to humanity.

The framework from Liccardo and Kiley would direct the State Department to lead a cross-government team negotiating with China to find “shared priorities for mitigating frontier AI safety and catastrophic risk,” including ways of testing models and verifying compliance.

The theoretical talks would focus on cybersecurity, loss-of-control and nuclear and biological harms. The framework also envisions a “hotline” between the two governments “for direct communication on AI risk.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that, ahead of the summit, the United States has proposed a “notification mechanism” for certain serious risks. Trump has repeatedly rejected further domestic regulation.

The new proposal also would create allowances for “AI industry and safety experts from universities, think tanks, and industry AI labs” to talk directly with peers in China.

“A lot of technical work must begin now, before political leadership can ever fruitfully meet at the negotiating table,” Liccardo said in a statement.