(Washington, Shanghai = Yonhap News) Correspondent Lee Yu-mi and Cha Byeong-seop = U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Besant, who is engaged in high-level negotiations between the two countries ahead of the U.S.-China summit, announced on the 16th (local time) that he would be open to discussing the risks that both countries commonly face in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) with China.
As U.S. President Donald Trump has dismissed the idea of controlling the speed of AI development due to fierce competition with China, attention is being paid to whether the two countries will be able to find common ground on AI safety issues.
Secretary Bessant told the U.S. online media Axios on this day, "The United States is still a leader in the AI field," and added, "We are open to discussions to avoid the risks that both (U.S. and China) commonly face and to prevent the two countries' AI systems from becoming separated from each other."
It was then expected that the discussion between the two sides would also include discussions on “open weight (open weighted) and closed weight (closed) models.”
Open weight is a type of open model that discloses the weights of an AI model and allows them to be customized. Chinese AI companies such as DeepSeek have mainly developed open weight models.
On the other hand, closed weights are a method that does not disclose the weights and allows the model to be used only through the service provided by the company. Leading American AI companies, such as Antropic and OpenAI, maintain a closed model.
Meanwhile, CEOs of AI companies have called for cooperation between the United States and China on AI technology safety standards.
Minister Besant will meet with Vice Premier Heifeng of the State Council in New York, USA, on the 20th.
At this meeting, economic issues such as AI, trade, and rare earths will be discussed for several hours, and the agenda for the US-China summit to be held at the White House on the 24th is expected to be finalized.
Axios said the meeting between the two economic leaders "could serve as a stepping stone for discussions on AI safety cooperation between the U.S. and China."
Meanwhile, according to Xinhua News Agency, Chinese Ministry of Commerce Spokesperson He Yadong said at a press conference on the 17th that the two sides are in close communication when asked about progress in negotiations regarding tariff reduction worth $30 billion (approximately 6.2 trillion won).
He said, "Currently, the economic and trade teams of both the US and China are maintaining close communication on related agendas," and added, "We will announce related developments at an appropriate time in the future."
The two countries agreed on the formation of a trade committee at the summit last May. The Trade Commission is an organization that determines tariff reductions for each country's non-sensitive items worth $30 billion.
