Can the EU and its allies cooperate with China on AI safety standards?
Euronews asked stakeholders at its International AI Summit in Brussels on Wednesday if Beijing can be trusted when it comes to artificial intelligence.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 So we have to continue to work...
00:01 As governments throughout the world race to regulate artificial intelligence,
00:06 focus on international cooperation, particularly with China, is intensifying.
00:10 It was a key topic at Euronews' International AI Summit in Brussels this week,
00:16 with many people saying it could prove difficult to cooperate with Beijing on AI standards.
00:21 I think it's fair to say that the geopolitical reality
00:26 is not very conducive to deep, meaningful cooperation.
00:30 There is a very much escalating tech war between the US and China.
00:36 There's a tremendous race for technological supremacy.
00:40 There's concern who is the economic power, the technological power, the geopolitical power.
00:45 And there's also vast ideological differences.
00:48 So it is hard to see the US and the EU to agree with China
00:52 in particularly meaningful substantive rules around AI.
00:56 The explosion of interest in artificial intelligence could not have come at a more awkward time,
01:02 given the global effort needed to work together on setting safety standards.
01:06 But there is some hope amid all the geopolitical tension.
01:10 Last week saw the historic Bletchley Declaration in the UK,
01:13 where the US and China both signed an agreement on AI safety.
01:17 There's also optimism in the business-to-business area.
01:22 I'm very optimistic when it comes to what can be done between companies, between engineers.
01:28 Chinese companies are already playing a really active role.
01:32 As long as these conversations can continue and even maybe be facilitated by governments,
01:36 despite the geopolitical tensions, I think there will be progress going forward.
01:41 But for the MEP leading the charge on the EU's AI Act,
01:45 cooperation with China on the technology should for now be secondary.
01:49 First, the collective West needs to get its own house in order.
01:52 Because it is the same when addressing governance at a global stage,
01:57 when addressing standards at a global stage, there is an inevitable dialogue with China.
02:01 But what I've always said is that first and foremost, we have to make sure that we are first aligned.
02:06 Us, the democracies that understand technology in the same way and its role in society,
02:11 we have to first get ourselves as convergent as we can, as aligned as we can,
02:16 and then have a proper conversation with China to make sure that we can address as many as the other,
02:22 let's say, bigger risks, including geopolitical risks, in a framework that also includes governance.
02:28 Next week could see another historic moment in the West`s cooperation with Beijing.
02:32 U.S. President Joe Biden will likely meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping,
02:36 which could lay the groundwork for future cooperation on artificial intelligence.
02:41 Chris Lepage, Euronews, Brussels.
02:43 (audience laughing)
02:46 (whooshing)