OpenAI has voiced its desire for the United States to spearhead an international initiative aimed at establishing standards for artificial intelligence, coinciding with a significant week of talks on AI safety between Chinese and American representatives. However, the question remains: can the U.S. gain Beijing's trust to set these global standards?
In a blog post released on Monday, OpenAI urged the U.S. government to engage with existing AI safety organizations such as the Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI) and collaborate with global partners to formulate technical standards for advanced AI, particularly in the area of recursive self-improvement (RSI). Although fully automated RSI does not yet exist, OpenAI emphasizes that, if approached securely, it is a goal worth pursuing.
The organization noted that the standards created from this initiative would offer a shared technical framework for measuring capabilities and evaluating risks, as well as ensuring adequate safety measures. OpenAI clarified that these would not serve as mandatory licenses or pre-release approvals for AI models; instead, it would be up to each nation to determine how to integrate these standards into their legal frameworks.
CAISI, which falls under the Commerce Department, has been utilized by the previous Trump administration for testing new AI models. It collaborates with various organizations from nine other countries as part of the International Network for Advanced AI Measurement, Evaluation, and Science. This coalition could help mitigate the uneven distribution of AI expertise and address the fragmented and sometimes conflicting perspectives on AI safety across nations.
OpenAI contends that the United States is ideally suited to lead this effort due to its advanced AI industry and its influential role in critical domains like finance, trade, defense, and technology. They argue that geopolitical competition will hinge not only on technical prowess but also on the adoption and dissemination of AI, which may increasingly be influenced by those promoting effective international cooperation and realistic governance frameworks.
Essentially, OpenAI's position suggests that if the U.S. can take the reins in developing a global AI safety framework, it would not only strengthen its own position in AI adoption but also ensure it remains competitive against China in the burgeoning AI landscape.
This is a strategic push, especially considering the concerns among American legislators regarding maintaining the edge of the U.S. AI industry over its Chinese counterparts. Earlier in the month, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei had previously expressed alarms about the rapid pace of AI development in an essay that called for governmental intervention to mitigate potential catastrophic outcomes. OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, supported Amodei's call for caution, and company executives engaged with lawmakers in Washington to advocate for proposed legislation aimed at establishing federal safety frameworks and new auditing mechanisms for AI technologies.
However, any suggestion of a government-imposed slowdown on AI innovation met with strong opposition from critics, including Trump, who warned that a deceleration in the U.S. would allow China to forge ahead, potentially creating an imbalance in global AI capabilities that could jeopardize U.S. security interests. This concern implies that any effective globally coordinated slowdown might necessitate cooperation with Beijing to gain acceptance among U.S. policymakers.
While it appears unlikely that China would agree to a global framework dominated by U.S. standards, the Chinese government has expressed its commitment to international collaboration on AI—a collaboration it prefers to shape according to its own interests. Chinese President Xi Jinping emphasized the need for collective action, stating that AI development should not be led solely by one nation but should truly embody a collaborative international effort. This sentiment was echoed at the recent World AI Conference in Shanghai, where China announced the creation of the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, comprising 29 member countries including major economies such as Brazil and Russia.
As discussions get underway ahead of this week's meetings, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent mentioned that American officials suggested implementing a notification system allowing both nations to alert one another about AI incidents that could threaten national security. A meeting between Xi and Trump is scheduled for later this week to further address AI safety.
OpenAI is expected to play a significant role in these discussions; CEO Sam Altman is set to speak at the UN Security Council—a body that includes both China and the U.S.—on Wednesday before attending a state dinner pertaining to U.S.-China relations on Thursday.
Even if China can be persuaded to allow the U.S. to lead in setting global AI standards, it remains uncertain whether other nations will welcome this arrangement, especially given the current geopolitical climate that has seen the Trump administration strain relations with longstanding allies through a confrontational trade policy.
