China's Foreign Ministry Answers AI Slowdown Calls

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs answered the calls by US AI leaders to slow frontier development at its regular press conference on 14 September, according to the ministry's official transcript.

A Reuters reporter asked for comment on Dario Amodei, Sam Altman and Elon Musk having called over the weekend for AI companies to slow down frontier development, "with Amodei arguing a Chinese advantage in AI would pose U.S. national security risks." Spokesperson Guo Jiakun replied: "AI is a consequential technology for the wellbeing of all humanity. All parties should jointly promote the open and inclusive development of AI for good and for all. Fear-mongering, confrontation and vicious competition will only hamper efforts toward sound global AI governance, which serves no one's interest."

The answer, as published by the ministry, does not name Amodei, Anthropic or any company, and does not address the proposal to pace AI development directly. It came two days after Amodei, in an essay calling for slowing frontier AI progress, urged the US to keep powerful AI chips from China and warned that a Chinese lead in AI would pose grave danger. Sharper language came from state media: Reuters reported that the state backed Global Times described the essay as a "Cold War playbook" targeting China.