President Donald Trump, speaking at the launch of America.gov – an AI‑powered portal for U.S. government services – declared that any joint venture with China on artificial intelligence would amount to “giving away secrets” to a major economic rival.
The comment came a day after U.S. President Xi Jinping’s visit to the White House, when Washington and Beijing agreed to a new AI dialogue platform and set further meetings for November to avoid misunderstandings over AI‑related incidents.
Trump, who has repeatedly claimed that America is “leading by a lot” in the AI sector, said that collaborating with China would only give “a lot of secrets” that China “would want to have.” He warned that such a partnership could hand the U.S. significant technological advantages to its rival.
He added that, despite the AI topic being raised during his meeting with Xi, he remains opposed to any joint cooperation that would let China gain instant access to U.S. developments. “We’re leading now over China and everyone else, and I want to keep it that way,” Trump said.
At home, the president faces growing public concern over the potential dangers of AI. A recent Politico poll indicated that two out of three Americans see a “moderate” risk that AI could threaten humanity, and 44% of Trump supporters would prefer a pause in AI development. Trump, however, has dismissed safety concerns as a “hoax” and compared them to a “global warming scam” propagated by his political opponents.
