US and China must talk to manage dangers of AI contest in a nuclear age

In the wake of the summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump, the China-US relationship is, in one critical respect, more dangerous than at any time since Tiananmen Square. The reason is not trade friction, tariffs, Taiwan or geopolitical competition – significant as those are. It is the competition over Artificial Intelligence supremacy, which will reshape every aspect of relations in the coming decade.This is not just a technological contest. It is a contest between institutional systems. A quarter-century ago, during the debate over permanent normal trade relations with China, Washington confronted a familiar strategic question: engagement or confrontation.One camp favoured sustained economic integration by supporting China’s admission into the World Trade Organization. The other sought to condition trade on human rights benchmarks. The underlying issue was whether economic engagement would moderate China’s behaviour or strengthen a strategic rival.