Donald Trump has ruled out a joint US-China venture to develop artificial intelligence, saying it could give Beijing access to American know-how. Speaking at the launch of a new AI-powered government services portal, he said the US was well ahead in the field and wanted to maintain that lead. His comments underline tensions between cooperation on AI risks and competition for technological advantage.

The remarks came after Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the White House, when the countries announced an AI dialogue and a communications channel to help prevent misunderstandings during AI-related incidents. Trump said AI had come up in his meeting with Xi but rejected joint development. In the US, debate over safeguards continues: a late-September Politico poll found two-thirds of respondents saw at least a moderate risk that AI could destroy humanity, while 44% of Trump supporters surveyed favoured pausing its development.