When potential outcomes are systemic and irreversible, preparation must precede certainty. This is the logic behind insurance, as well as every pandemic plan and arms-control treaty ever created, and it must be the principle that guides our approach to AI—beginning at the upcoming US-China summit.
GENEVA—When Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump meet in Washington this month, AI will be near the top of the agenda. If they view the issue through the lens of technological rivalry and mutual suspicion, reaching any kind of understanding will be nearly impossible. But there is a way to reframe their thinking about the technology that puts them on the same side—and marks the first step toward confronting the existential challenge AI may well pose.
