U.S. Treasury Secretary: “We must not give up AI leadership to China”… Beware of excessive fear mongering

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Besant said on the 3rd (local time) that the U.S. should not give up leadership in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) to China, and reiterated his position to prioritize the industry's autonomous safety measures in AI regulation.

In an interview with Internet media Axios released today, Minister Besant said, "We must not lose our leading position to China," and added, "If China takes the lead instead of us in the field of AI, the situation will be very different."

In response to a question about the administration's AI regulatory policy, he responded, "What we want is safe acceleration."

At the same time, regarding the 'AI risk theory' raised by some, he drew a line, saying, "We believe that we must prepare for all situations, but on the other hand, such excessive fear-mongering raised by some AI communities without a solution cannot be called leadership."

Regarding AI regulations in the United States, he emphasized the position that AI development companies and research institutes should take responsibility for safety issues.

Minister Bessant said he agreed with the argument that people in research labs should be held accountable, adding, "I think research labs are now shifting to that way of thinking."

Secretary Bessant also drew a line on the possibility of the US and China sharing information about the specific capabilities of AI models in the future, but said, "They could agree on what the models should not do."