US President Donald Trump has reiterated his opposition to collaborating with China on artificial intelligence (AI), citing concerns that such cooperation would jeopardize American technological leadership. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Trump emphasized that sharing AI knowledge with China would allow the country to gain immediate access to US advancements and undermine the United States’ current leading position in the field.
In a move aimed at addressing public unease about AI while maintaining a competitive edge over China, Trump signed a voluntary “White House Accord on Super Intelligence” with six major US technology firms, including Anthropic, OpenAI, and SpaceXAI. The agreement outlines a set of controls and audit measures intended to mitigate the risks associated with AI development. Trump said the pact follows a lunch meeting with 17 industry leaders, during which he described the competition over AI as a contest with a definitive winner and loser.
The president also issued an executive order instructing government agencies to refer to AI as “super intelligence” (SI), reflecting his preference for highlighting the advanced nature of emerging AI technologies. Among those attending the lunch meeting were notable figures such as Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, and Anthropic’s Dario Amodei.
Last week, Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to establish a US-China AI dialogue to discuss the benefits and risks associated with AI technologies. According to a White House statement, the two countries have set up a bilateral communication channel for “super intelligence” incidents, with the next round of talks scheduled for November 2026. The Chinese government issued a parallel statement largely mirroring the US announcement, preferring the term “artificial intelligence” rather than “super intelligence.”
Despite agreeing in principle to dialogue, Trump’s administration continues to resist calls for strong regulatory frameworks governing AI development. He maintains that stringent government regulations would stifle innovation, hinder American tech companies, and weaken their global competitiveness, particularly against China. Trump has consistently pushed for a light-touch regulatory approach, advocating for industry self-governance rather than formal government intervention. The voluntary agreement with Silicon Valley firms reflects this stance by relying on companies to police themselves.
The president has also downplayed concerns about AI risks and related issues such as the environmental impact of data centers. In early September, he dismissed fears of rising energy costs and health risks from AI infrastructure as unfounded conspiracy theories, comparing them to climate change skepticism. Trump has likewise rejected proposals for AI development slowdowns, even after prominent industry leaders like Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, and SpaceXAI’s Elon Musk expressed support for pauses aimed at ensuring AI safety.
The voluntary accord acknowledges that future governmental regulation might become necessary, stating that it “may make sense to codify these steps into laws and regulations” over time. However, the administration has yet to clarify the specific content of the upcoming US-China AI discussions or the role of technical experts versus political officials in the dialogue process.
While both the United States and China recognize AI’s potential risks and benefits, significant differences remain concerning the nature of these risks and the appropriate methods for managing them. Trump’s priority remains maintaining US dominance in AI development, even as he faces mounting domestic and international calls for greater oversight and precaution.