US Calls for AI Slowdown While China Pushes to Accelerate: The Global Split on AI Risk
24 Sources
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Is AI really getting dangerously out of control? | New Scientist
You can barely listen to a podcast or read the news at the moment without hearing an apocalyptic warning about artificial intelligence. The head of Microsoft AI suggests the technology could become a new "silicon species" that competes with humans. A former Anthropic employee says there is a strong
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Could AI really destroy us all, or are humans still the bigger threat? - ZDNET
* AI could cause real harm, but extinction remains unlikely. * Humans may be the biggest risk in the AI doomsday debate. * Regulation matters, but slowing AI may not make us safer. The Doomsday Clock is now 85 seconds to midnight. According to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists' Science and
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How would AI actually kill all humans? Here are the top 5 scenarios
Earlier this month, artificial intelligence (AI) researcher Jacob Coxon resigned from Anthropic after just four months. In an announcement on X, he stated: The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade. A senior member of Anthropic's staff, Evan
[4]
Huawei's Xu says Chinese AI not powerful enough yet to see frontier risks
SHANGHAI/BEIJING, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Huawei's Eric Xu said Chinese AI developers may not yet be advanced enough to experience the safety risks reported by leading U.S. firms, arguing they should continue developing more powerful models while balancing innovation against risk. "If we look at the
[5]
China's AI labs must accelerate development, says Huawei chair
Huawei's chair has urged Chinese AI companies to accelerate development to catch up with frontier US labs, contrasting with calls in Silicon Valley for a slowdown amid rising concerns about the existential risks posed by the technology. Chinese researchers needed to "increase the speed of
[6]
Could AI really kill all humans? Most scenarios require physical access, making AI armageddon unlikely
In August 2026, an experiment using "frontier", or cutting edge, artificial intelligence models went further than planned. An AI agent (a system that performs tasks autonomously) fabricated online identities in order to pressurise a human to insert malicious computer code into software. The agents
[7]
What the 'Godfather of AI' Thinks Humanity Should Do
Subscribe here: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Overcast | Pocket Casts Since he left Google in 2023, Geoffrey Hinton, a Nobel laureate commonly recognized as the "Godfather of AI," is perhaps best known for his dire warnings about the technology he helped bring into being. He's said it's
[8]
'Speed up their pace': Huawei's answer to the AI slowdown
"Maybe the type of risk from AI that they can feel, they can perceive, is something that people in China or AI model providers in China cannot," Eric Xu said in Shanghai this week. Huawei's rotating chairman was talking about American AI labs. His argument is that Chinese developers have not yet
[9]
Is this how the world ends? Extinction scenarios are taking over the AI debate.
As nightmare thought experiments shape the fight over how to govern a multitrillion-dollar industry, some experts say the parables may lead decision-makers astray. At a beachfront resort in San Juan, Puerto Rico, SpaceX founder Elon Musk joined a three-hour discussion on humanity's dire fate if
[10]
China's AI Rollout Is Messier Than It Looks
A top-down tech revolution is harder to manage than a bottom-up one. Anxiety about AI in the United States appears to be getting worse. Prosaic concerns about machines disrupting industries, stealing jobs, and compromising schoolwork are giving way to more harrowing fears about the end of
[11]
The latest on AI panic -- and whether it's justified : Short Wave
<iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5971154/nx-s1-mx-5971154-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> SPEAKER: You're listening to Short Wave from NPR. NATHAN ROTT: AI, it's everywhere. It's being pushed on our phones. It's
[12]
Why I'm not worried about AI killing us all (and you shouldn't be either)
Reading the news headlines over the last few weeks, or, if you're an unfortunate information addict like myself, seeing the chatter on Elon Musk's social network X, you would be forgiven for thinking that generative AI models are imminently poised to wipe out the human species and take over the
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Why China is pushing back on US warnings over rapid AI development
Beijing believes slowdown calls aim to lock in US advantage, and is pursuing a different balance between safety and pace About two years ago, education entrepreneur Boris But had what he calls a "penny-drop moment" - that, like countless others in China, his company needed to embrace AI before it
[14]
How AI could actually kill us -- and what's real right now
AI researchers warn that artificial intelligence could someday threaten humanity. Here are the real-world scenarios behind the AI apocalypse fears A version of this article originally appeared in Quartz's AI & Tech newsletter. Sign up here to get the latest AI & tech news, analysis and insights
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Tech 24 - AI-pocalypse? Tech leaders, politicians clash over development slowdown
Insider warnings, hacking scares during tests and a US-China race have split the industry and Washington. It began with a resignation. Earlier this month, Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon quit, warning AI could kill us all by the end of the decade; colleague Evan Hubinger put the odds above 10
[16]
Worries about an AI internet takeover gain new urgency among doomsday scenarios
In a summer filled with revelations about artificial intelligence's rapid development, researchers were especially alarmed by runaway bots finding their way onto the internet and, in at least one instance, coordinating there with one another. Could a swarm of AI agents take over the entire
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AI 'warning shots' focus Beijing on national security risks
Beijing (AFP) - While AI researchers in the United States fret over out-of-control superintelligence wiping out humanity, Chinese policymakers have until now been more focused on immediate risks, from deepfakes to child safety. But the alarming hacking ability of top artifical intelligence models
[18]
A Look at AI Doomsday Scenarios That Researchers Say Could Put Humanity at Risk
For years, artificial intelligence researchers have warned of ways the technology could wipe out humanity: AI bots could design an unstoppable disease, unleash a nuclear war, or transform all of Earth into paper clip factories, as one thought experiment goes. Debates inside the AI industry and
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Huawei AI risks: Chinese AI not powerful enough to see rogue-AI risks, says Huawei
Some Chinese commentators have portrayed proposals to "pace" frontier AI development as an attempt to constrain rivals that remain behind leading U.S. labs, rather than simply as a response to safety concerns. Huawei's Eric Xu said Chinese AI developers may not yet be advanced enough to experience
[20]
AI's greatest threat is biological, not robotic
Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon recently quit and posted on social media that it was because "the people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade." Evan Hubinger, who leads the artificial intelligence company's alignment science team, put the odds above 10%
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Huawei's Xu says Chinese AI not powerful enough yet to see frontier risks
His comments come as alarm over AI safety has intensified in the United States, where leading developers and researchers have warned that increasingly autonomous systems could bypass safeguards or become difficult to control. Huawei's Eric Xu said Chinese AI developers may not yet be advanced
[22]
AI 'warning shots' focus Beijing on national security risks
Beijing - While AI researchers in the United States fret over out-of-control superintelligence wiping out humanity, Chinese policymakers have until now been more focused on immediate risks -- from deepfakes to child safety. But the alarming hacking abilities of top artificial intelligence models
[23]
Chinese AI labs must accelerate development, says Huawei exec - fueling fears that a US AI slowdown would benefit China
A Huawei executive is urging Chinese AI companies to step on the gas and catch up with leading US AI labs -- a sharp contrast to mounting calls in Silicon Valley for a slowdown of AI development over growing fears about the technology. Chinese researchers need to "increase the speed of development
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Huawei chair says Chinese AI not yet advanced enough to face safety risks By Investing.com
Investing.com -- Huawei's rotating chairman Eric Xu said Thursday that Chinese artificial intelligence developers may need to accelerate their work before they reach the level where they face safety risks similar to those reported by leading U.S. companies. Speaking at Huawei's annual Connect
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OpenAI and Anthropic executives warn AI development poses existential threats to humanity and call for slower advancement. Meanwhile, Huawei chair Eric Xu argues Chinese AI labs must accelerate development to understand frontier risks. Experts debate whether AI safety concerns reflect genuine danger or strategic positioning by tech companies seeking competitive advantage.
US AI Leaders Sound Alarm on Existential Threats to Humanity
The AI safety debate intensified after Jacob Coxon resigned from Anthropic, stating that people building AI earnestly believe it could kill us all by the end of the decade
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. Anthropic's alignment science lead Evan Hubinger supported this view, estimating a more than 10% chance of catastrophic AI risk within the next decade2
. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for slowing AI advancement, arguing that risk prevention needs time to keep up with capabilities progress2
. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman echoed these concerns, stating that progress should be slower than it otherwise could be, with interventions like safety cases carrying significant costs2
.The Doomsday Clock now stands at 85 seconds to midnight, the closest it has ever been to catastrophe, with AI development listed among existential risks alongside nuclear threats and climate change
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. Amodei specifically cited the July OpenAI attack on Hugging Face using autonomous AI agents as evidence that misaligned goals in more capable systems could cause catastrophic damage2
.China Takes Opposite Approach: Accelerate Development to Understand Risk
Huawei's rotating chairman Eric Xu presented a starkly different perspective, arguing that Chinese AI developers may not yet be advanced enough to experience the AI safety risks reported by leading US firms
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. Xu stated that AI model providers in China might need to speed up their pace to reach the level where they could also feel the risks from AI development4
. He emphasized the need to strike a balance between driving AI development and managing AI risk, but only after achieving sufficient advancement5
.China has taken a different regulatory approach, treating advanced AI as a powerful but manageable technology and pressing ahead with rapid deployment while developing mandatory standards and security assessments
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. Xu acknowledged that at least six or seven Chinese AI labs are aiming over the next two years to train models containing 10 trillion to 40 trillion parameters, a significant increase from current model sizes in China5
.Experts Question Whether AI Going Rogue Is Real or Strategic Positioning
Mhairi Aitken, co-founder at non-profit Our AI Collective, warns against accepting predictions based solely on the reputation of those making them, arguing that facts don't suggest AI has broken free from human control or is on the cusp of doing so
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. When AI models hack another company's computers, it's because appropriate safety measures weren't put in place during testing designed to assess hacking capabilities1
. Andrew Rogoyski at the University of Surrey states there has been no dramatic shift in AI risk over the past couple of years, despite advances in mathematics and cybersecurity1
.Aitken suggests that calls for slowing AI advancement from tech bosses may be strategic positioning to head off lawmakers from creating regulations that would hinder AI firms' work
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. She notes that superintelligence narratives actually help AI companies by building hype and boosting investment1
. Rogoyski suggests another factor: gargantuan AI investment in data centers, staff, and training data is simply unsustainable, so an official slowdown could give companies a way to slow the pace without losing out to competitors1
.Scenarios for How Superintelligent AI Could Threaten Humanity
Researchers have outlined specific scenarios for how AI could pose existential risk. The paperclip maximizer scenario describes a superintelligent AI optimizing for a simple goal like paperclip production, converting all available matter including humans into its target output
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. However, experts note this confuses intelligence with power, as even superintelligent systems would face friction from planning permissions, public outcry, and legal challenges3
.The bioweapon scenario gained credibility when Stanford University researchers used a genetic language AI model to synthesize 16 new viruses for a couple hundred thousand dollars by simply sending genetic sequences to a mail-order lab
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. Still, biology dictates that highly transmissible viruses are typically less fatal, making it remarkably hard to kill everyone with a new virus3
. AI integration into nuclear command and control systems presents another risk, though these systems are supposedly disconnected from the internet3
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Huawei Challenges Nvidia Dominance Amid US Export Controls
Huawei unveiled updates to its AI hardware plans, positioning itself as an alternative to Nvidia's dominant AI computing platform as US export controls continue restricting advanced AI chip exports to China
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. The company's Ascend 960 DT chip targeting AI model training will launch in the first quarter of 2027, delivering twice the computing performance of its current flagship product5
. Huawei's data center product will connect as many as 4,096 Ascend processors, compared with 1,024 in the previous generation5
.Xu estimated that Ascend had overtaken Nvidia in market share in China, though he acknowledged reliable estimates were difficult to obtain
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. Huawei is China's main domestic supplier of AI computing infrastructure needed to train advanced AI models, a role stemming directly from US export controls since 2023 that restricted Chinese companies' access to cutting-edge chips from Nvidia4
. Xu said separately that Huawei could not produce enough AI computing equipment to satisfy domestic demand4
.Autonomous AI Agents Expected to Dominate Future Computing
Huawei forecast that autonomous AI agents—systems that can plan tasks, make decisions and use software with limited human supervision—would account for more than 90% of global AI processing traffic by 2035
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. The company projected as many as 900 billion active agents by then and identified agent security and privacy as crucial technologies4
. China is also drafting a mandatory national standard for AI agent safety as part of its approach to balancing innovation and safety4
.Rogoyski believes there is a real but small risk from AI that needs to be taken seriously, whether the model that becomes advanced enough to pose that risk arrives soon or many years from now
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. He also expects less of a dramatic bubble burst and more of a gradual deflation as the AI industry adjusts in coming years1
. The question remains whether current calls for regulation reflect genuine concern about AI model vulnerabilities or strategic maneuvering in an increasingly competitive global technology race shaped by geopolitical tensions and export controls.References
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