US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent visited Japan and South Korea on his way to the Trump-Xi Summit in Beijing on May 14 and 15, 2026.
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The U.S. can talk to China about AI because “we’re ahead,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC, as the countries introduce a protocol of best practices for the rapidly developing technology.
“These two AI powerhouses are going to start talking. We’re going to establish a protocol on how we move forward with AI best practices to make sure that non-state actors don’t get these models,” Bessent told Joe Kernen on Thursday, on the sidelines of President Donald Trump’s two-day meeting in Beijing with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“The reason we’re able to have good discussions with the Chinese about AI is because we’re leading,” he added. “I don’t think we would have had the same discussions if they were in front of us like this,” he said.
The US Anthropic has alarmed many in Washington and other countries with the Mythos AI model, which is supposed to have powerful cyberattack capabilities. The company said it will first release it to select its business partners.
BEIJING, CHINA – MAY 14: Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) and U.S. President Donald Trump pose for a photo at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing on May 14, 2026. Xi warned Trump that the Taiwan issue could plunge their two countries into “conflict” if not handled properly, setting off a major spat in Beijing as a major conflict began in May. 14. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski – Pool/Getty Images)
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Bessent told CNBC that he expects a big “jump step” in the release of the next major language model. GoogleGemini and OpenAI.
Washington has also sought to limit China’s AI development by restricting sales of advanced semiconductors, particularly from Nvidia, to the country. The chipmaker’s CEO, Jensen Huang, joined Trump’s China team as a later addition.
When asked about a Reuters report that Washington had stopped sales of Nvidia’s H200 AI chips to major Chinese technology companies, Bessent said there had been “a lot of back and forth” on the issue.
Trump and Xi concluded their first major meeting of this week’s China trip at 12pm local time on Thursday. Beijing’s reading said the Chinese leader stressed that Taiwan is a very important issue in bilateral relations, and warned against mishandling the issue.
Beijing claims Taiwan, a self-governing democratic island, as part of its territory.
Bessent also told CNBC that Trump would say more on the Taiwan issue “in the coming days.”
“Trump … understands the sensitivity of all of this, and whoever was saying otherwise doesn’t understand Donald Trump’s negotiating style,” he added.
Bessent’s Church in Asia
Trump’s trip to China this week is the first time a US president has visited the country since 2017, when Trump visited during his first term. The conference started on Thursday morning and will conclude on Friday.
Ahead of the Trump-Xi meeting, Bessent met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in South Korea on Wednesday.
China’s Ministry of Commerce described the initial talks as an effort to resolve trade issues and “expand effective cooperation,” according to the Chinese version of CNBC.
In a short text on X Thursday morning, Bessent shared a photo of himself with He Lifeng, saying they discussed “economic and trade relations between our nations.”
