Back
Sandia National Labs: US-China AI Collaboration Challenges
governmentA 2025 Sandia National Laboratories report relevant to AI governance researchers and policymakers tracking US-China relations on AI safety, particularly nuclear-AI intersections and the geopolitics of international AI governance under the Trump administration.
Metadata
Importance: 58/100organizational reportanalysis
Summary
This Sandia National Laboratories report analyzes the state of US-China AI governance collaboration, covering domestic policies, bilateral engagement history, and multilateral participation. It identifies key obstacles including sector competition, divergent governance values, and lack of international governance structures, while proposing concrete pathways such as military-focused dialogues, leader summits, and allied nation engagement. The analysis is contextualized within the Trump administration's shift toward innovation-focused, less multilateral AI policy.
Key Points
- •The most significant bilateral AI governance milestone was the November 2024 Biden-Xi agreement to prevent AI autonomous control of nuclear weapons systems.
- •Key challenges include intense sector competition, fundamentally different AI governance values between the US and China, and the absence of effective international AI governance bodies.
- •The Trump administration's deregulatory, innovation-first stance and skepticism of multilateral approaches creates significant uncertainty for ongoing US-China AI dialogues.
- •Proposed pathways include Track 1.5/Track 2 dialogues involving industry and technical experts, leader-level summits, and leveraging allies like the UK and Japan as intermediaries.
- •Both countries participate in multilateral AI governance forums but diverge on core principles, complicating consensus-building in venues like the UN.
Cited by 4 pages
| Page | Type | Quality |
|---|---|---|
| AI Structural Risk Cruxes | Crux | 66.0 |
| Intervention Timing Windows | Analysis | 72.0 |
| China AI Regulatory Framework | Policy | 57.0 |
| Multipolar Trap (AI Development) | Risk | 91.0 |
Cached Content Preview
HTTP 200Fetched Mar 15, 202685 KB
SAND2025-03873O. Sandia National Laboratories is a
multimission laboratory managed and operated by National
Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly
owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the US
Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration
under contract DE-NA0003525.
Challenges and Opportunities for
US-China Collaboration on
Artificial Intelligence Governance
Noelle Camp and Michael Bachman
April 2025
-- 1 of 24 --
2
-- 2 of 24 --
3
CONTENTS
1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................6
2. US Domestic Policy on AI Governance.......................................................................................................7
3. China’s Domestic Policy on AI Governance...............................................................................................9
4. US-China Bilateral Engagement on Artificial Intelligence .................................................................... 10
5. Engagement in Multilateral AI Governance Efforts .............................................................................. 12
6. Challenges to Further US-Chinese Collaboration ................................................................................... 14
6.1. Competition in the AI Sector ............................................................................................................ 14
6.2. The Need for an International Governance Body and the Role of the UN........................... 15
6.3. Differences in AI Governance Values and Principles ................................................................. 16
7. Opportunities and Next Steps ..................................................................................................................... 17
7.1. Bilateral Dialogue with China on Military Uses of AI ................................................................. 17
7.2. Leader-to-Leader Summit Incorporating AI Issues ..................................................................... 18
7.3. Track 1.5 and Track 2 Dialogues with Industry and Technical SMEs ..................................... 18
7.4. Bilateral Engagement with US Allies and Partners ....................................................................... 19
7.4.1. The United Kingdom ............................................................................................................ 19
7.4.2. Japan.......................................................................................................................................... 19
-- 3 of 24 --
4
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In November 2023, the United States (US) and China recognized the need to address risks and
opportunities posed by artificial intelligence (AI) technologies with formal US-China bilateral talks.
Six months later, representatives from the two countries convened in Geneva for the first offi
... (truncated, 85 KB total)Resource ID:
331246d11298126e | Stable ID: NmU4YzliZj