China accuses US AI giants of starting ‘silent AI Cold War': What is it?

China has accused American technology giants of trying to start a “silent AI Cold War” after some of the biggest names in the industry called for slowing down the development of increasingly powerful artificial intelligence.

The unusual warning came from China's state-backed Global Times on Monday after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei proposed putting what is essentially a speed limit on frontier AI development.

Amodei argues that AI is advancing so quickly that companies need to give safety measures time to catch up.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Elon Musk have backed the proposal as concerns grow that future AI systems could become too powerful for humans to control.

But China believes there is another motive.

Amodei has also called for Washington to tighten restrictions on advanced AI chips going to China and crack down on Chinese companies allegedly using American AI models to improve their own.

Global Times argued that the real aim is to slow China's AI industry while allowing the US to maintain its technological lead.

It called the idea a “Cold War playbook” and accused Washington of trying to exclude China from deciding how AI should be governed globally.

Slowing development may give researchers more time to work out how to control increasingly capable systems. But if American companies slow down while Chinese rivals don't, the US could lose its lead.

Donald Trump doesn't appear willing to take that chance. “We're leading China in AI,” the US president said Sunday, adding, “Whoever wins AI wins.”

China, meanwhile, says countries should cooperate rather than turn AI into another geopolitical confrontation.

US and Chinese officials are expected to discuss frontier AI safety risks this month and the subject could also come up when Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet on September 24.