China's Xi calls for global AI governance push, criticises US tech curbs

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for stronger international coordination to govern artificial intelligence and criticised the United States for restrictions on technology sharing, according to an Associated Press report carried in AP's business coverage (https://apnews.com/business). The remarks position Beijing as pressing for a multilateral framework to manage fast-moving AI development rather than leaving it to rival national strategies.

The comments arrive as competition over advanced AI intensifies between the world's two largest economies. The United States has in recent years imposed export controls on cutting-edge semiconductors and chipmaking equipment bound for China, citing national security — measures Beijing has repeatedly opposed as an attempt to contain its technological rise (background: https://apnews.com/business).

Xi's appeal for "more global efforts to guide AI" reflects a broader Chinese push to shape international AI rules. Beijing has in recent years advanced its own proposals for global AI governance and hosted large industry forums, casting itself as a champion of open, shared technological development even as Washington tightens the technological divide.

The rhetoric carries real economic stakes. AI leadership is now central to both nations' industrial and military strategies, and the trans-Pacific split over chip and model access is reshaping global supply chains, cross-border research collaboration and the geographic distribution of data-centre investment. How the two governments reconcile their competing visions will influence the pace and direction of AI adoption well beyond their own borders.