Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang warned on Saturday that the development of artificial intelligence must be weighed against security risks, saying that a global consensus is urgently needed, despite the tech race between Beijing and Washington showing no signs of decline.
His remarks came days after US President Donald Trump announced an aggressive low-regulation strategy aimed at solidifying our control in fast moving areas.
Li, which opened the World AI Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai on Saturday, has highlighted the need for governance and open source development and announced the establishment of a China-led organization for international AI cooperation.
“The risks and challenges posed by artificial intelligence have attracted widespread attention. […] How to find a balance between development and security requires more consensus from society as a whole, urgently,” the Prime Minister said.
Li said China would “actively promote” the development of open source AI, adding that Beijing would be willing to share progress with other countries, particularly those currently developing.
“When you engage in technical monopoly, control and blockage, artificial intelligence will be the protection of a small number of countries and several businesses,” he said.
“Only by adhering to openness, sharing and equity to intelligence can more countries and groups benefit from (AI).
The Premier emphasized that “inadequate computing power and chip supply” as a bottleneck.
Washington has expanded its efforts in recent years to curb the export of cutting-edge chips to China, which are concerned that they could be used to advance Beijing's military system and erode US technological control.
China has made AI the pillar of its technical independence plan, and the government has pledged numerous measures to boost the sector.
In January, Chinese startup DeepSeek unveiled an AI model that runs the top US systems despite using powerful chips.
“Pet Tiger Cub”
When AI is integrated into virtually every industry, its uses raised major ethical issues, ranging from the spread of misinformation to the impact on employment, or the potential loss of technical management.
In a speech at WAIC on Saturday, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Jeffrey Hinton compared the situation to maintaining it “as a very cute tiger cub as a pet.”
“To survive,” he said, you need to be able to train it not to kill you when it grows up.
In a video message at the WAIC opening ceremony, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said AI governance would be a “definitive test of international cooperation.”
At the ceremony, the French President's AI envoy Anne Bouverot highlighted the “urgent need” for global action.
At the AI Summit in Paris in February, 58 countries, including China, France and India, as well as the European and African Union Commission, called for greater coordination on AI governance.
However, the US warned against “overregulation” and refused to sign the summit appeal against “open”, “comprehensive” and “ethical” AI alongside the UK.
