❯ US and China said to discuss AI safety risks in mid-September; a White House official denies any meeting is scheduled

the talksThe U.S. and China are preparing a mid-September dialogue devoted to AI safety risks, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent leading the U.S. side, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. If it happens, it would be the two countries’ first official bilateral talks devoted solely to AI since Trump’s second term began. China’s side could be led by Vice Premier He Lifeng, Bessent’s protocol counterpart, with Ding Xuexiang as an alternative.

the agendaThe U.S. wants to discuss cooperation on monitoring AI-directed cyberattacks, the same sources said, and has floated a proposal for both countries’ AI labs to police themselves and share threat intelligence. That is the same logic as the “voluntary slowdown” OpenAI called for this week — leave the constraint to the labs rather than create a regulator. At last week’s G20 ministerial, the U.S. also pressed member countries not to establish new AI regulatory bodies.

the denialThe report carries a hard contradiction: a White House official told Reuters there is currently no planned AI-related meeting in mid-September. With the reporting and the official line in direct conflict, this remains preparatory until both sides confirm. The variable to watch is Bessent’s public September schedule, and whether China produces a counterpart-level statement — absent either, the dialogue stays a plan.

▪ SIGNALWashington wants both countries’ labs to police themselves, which is itself an admission that governments have no enforceable tool yet.