US and China Open 'Super Intelligence' Dialogue, Bessent Says

The United States and China have established a formal dialogue mechanism on what Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent calls "super intelligence," designed to guard against shared risks while both powers race to build the technology. Bessent disclosed the channel in prepared remarks to the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations in New York on Tuesday.

The two governments will exchange what Bessent described as "best practices" for testing advanced models before release. The mechanism also covers "keeping human judgement firmly in command of the technology," he said, and he expects each side to alert the other to serious incidents involving SI models. Notably, he made no commitment to limit the technology's advance.

What did Bessent actually commit to?

Very little, by design. The Treasury Secretary framed the dialogue as risk management rather than restraint. The channel dates to Xi Jinping's state visit in September, when the two governments agreed to launch an AI dialogue with a communications link for defusing serious incidents.

"Our interests will not always coincide, and our approach to every challenge likewise will not always converge," Bessent said. The two countries, he argued, must "reconcile the demands of competition with the responsibilities of leadership." He also urged both sides to "harbor no illusions" about their differences and to avert any "misunderstanding between our two systems." That is diplomatic language for: the rivalry continues, the hotline is for emergencies.

China's ambassador to the United States, Xie Feng, struck a compatible note at the same gala. Cooperation "may not resolve every challenge," he said, "but none can be resolved without it." A sentence with a built-in escape hatch, and both capitals know it.

Where does the summit fit in?

President Trump and Xi Jinping are due to meet for the third time this year at the APEC leaders' meeting in Shenzhen on November 18-19. Bessent will attend. The timing gives the AI dialogue a visible stage and gives both governments a reason to show progress before the cameras arrive.

Trump himself set the boundaries of any agreement in a CBS interview released Sunday. "I don't mind guardrails," he said, but he does not want rules that leave the United States in "a deep second position" to China. The formulation suggests Washington will accept safety coordination, not development caps.

What does this mean for the chip trade?

The commercial picture remains largely unchanged. Washington still restricts exports of the most advanced chips to China and has accused Chinese developers of copying American models through what it calls industrial-scale distillation. A testing dialogue does not soften export controls, and Bessent offered no signal that it might.

The talks also land at an awkward moment for Nvidia. CEO Jensen Huang faces scrutiny over his relationship with a woman U.S. intelligence officials suspect of espionage, and the episode has revived a push in Congress to write China chip export limits into the defense bill. CNBC reported that Huang's place in Trump's delegation to next week's summit is now in doubt.

What comes next?

Watch Shenzhen. If the November 18-19 summit produces a concrete incident-notification protocol, the dialogue graduates from press release to plumbing. If it produces only statements, the September channel remains a phone that both sides hope they never need to use.