Opinion | For global AI regulation to succeed, China must have a seat at the table

The UK’s decision to invite China to the AI Safety Summit despite objections, and the resulting Bletchley Declaration, is a clear sign of progress

Global issues of this kind simply cannot be solved unless there is buy-in from China

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US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and British Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology Michelle Donelan listen to China’s Vice-Minister of Science and Technology Wu Zhaohui speaking at the AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park in Britain on November 1. Photo: Reuters

Published: 5:30am, 24 Nov 2023Updated: 7:29am, 24 Nov 2023

Chinese President Xi Jinping has just concluded his first visit to the US in six years. Yet despite positive readouts from the visit, relations between the West and China remain cold. Discussions of a G2 relationship feel like a distant memory and there remains a consensus across the West on “de-risking” supply chains away from China in areas critical to national security.

In the United Kingdom, accusations of espionage in parliament followed by an MI5 warning that more than 20,000 people have been approached by suspected Chinese spies have done little to rebuild trust. These tensions did not, however, stop the UK government from inviting China to the AI Safety Summit.

Chinese officials attended both days at Bletchley Park but were not invited to a public meeting on the safety and security risks from AI. Wu Zhaohui, China’s Vice-Minister of Science and Technology, called for “global cooperation to share AI knowledge and make AI technologies available to the public on open source terms”.

Many were concerned about China’s summit involvement. Former leader Liz Truss, in a letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, argued that “no reasonable person expects China to abide by anything agreed to at this kind of summit”. This may well be true, but the UK was right to invite China and should be commended for trying to build consensus on AI risks.

China is second only to the US in AI investment and development, pouring in tens of billions of dollars annually, and has set 2030 as its deadline to become a global AI leader.

When it comes to regulation, China has moved more quickly than the United States, EU and UK. In July, China published new rules for domestic AI development for synthetically generated images and chatbots, following the issuance of regulations on recommendation algorithms.

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