China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has pushed back against Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s call for the United States to tighten restrictions on China’s artificial intelligence progress. The ministry warned that confrontation and competition risk undermining global efforts to govern the technology.
In a detailed essay published on Saturday, September 12, Amodei argued that a “Chinese lead in AI would pose grave danger for the United States and the world.” He urged continued restrictions on sales of advanced AI chips and manufacturing equipment to China to preserve the U.S. competitive edge. He also raised concerns that autonomous AI “agents” could potentially take control of significant parts of the internet within six to 12 months unless development is slowed, and noted that any meaningful global slowdown would require cooperation with China.
At a regular press conference on Monday, September 14, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun responded directly: “Fearmongering, confrontation and vicious competition will only disrupt the process of global AI governance which serves no one’s interest.”
The exchange comes ahead of a planned September 24 meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, where AI governance is expected to be discussed. Trump has downplayed calls to slow AI development, stating that the United States is ahead and that “whoever wins AI, wins.”
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Chinese officials and state media have framed Amodei’s comments as an attempt at technological containment. The state-run Global Times described the essay as packed with “containment provisions targeting China” and essentially a “Cold War playbook” for the AI sector. China’s Commerce Ministry has also dismissed related U.S. claims about Chinese firms using distillation techniques on American models as unfounded, calling the practice common across the industry.
Meanwhile, Xi has advocated for a global AI governance framework that includes countries from the Global South and has promoted China’s role in open-source AI development. Chinese firms continue to release capable models that are often more cost-efficient than leading U.S. systems on certain benchmarks.
Analysts note that both Washington and Beijing are focused on preventing the other from establishing decisive technological chokepoints. As one expert observed, the core tension remains: how can meaningful cooperation on frontier AI safety occur while one side restricts the other’s access to advanced compute?
This debate highlights the growing intersection of AI safety concerns, national security, and great-power competition.
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