WorkSeptember 16, 2026via Financial Times Technology
Can the US and China work together on AI risks?
Why it matters
As the US and China compete for AI dominance, geopolitical tension is undermining international cooperation on AI safety and governance — a gap that could leave both nations unprepared for frontier risks neither can control alone.
Key signals
- US-China technological rivalry creates obstacles to AI risk coordination
- Existential risk management requires international agreement both nations struggle to reach
- Geopolitical competition outweighing shared safety interests
- US-China technological rivalry complicates AI risk management
- Geopolitical tensions blocking international AI safety coordination
- Existential risk framing vs. competitive advantage framing divergence
The hook
US-China AI rivalry is blocking the one thing both sides agree they need: a framework for managing existential risks.
Technological rivalry between Washington and Beijing makes it harder to agree how to manage potentially existential dangers