Bessent: US proposes AI incident alert system in talks with China

In this photo taken with a smartphone, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, left, and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, address reporters in New York, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Sedensky)

NEW YORK (AP) — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday the U.S. has proposed a new “notification mechanism” for artificial intelligence incidents that could affect national security, part of weekend discussions ahead of talks at the White House this week between President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping.

“We want a shared vision of common goals and common threats,” Bessent told reporters after talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in New York. “We think that just like any cross-border activity, that moving from opaque to more transparency between the No. 1 and the No. 2 AI powers in the world is very important.”

The Associated Press