Senators’ letter calls for global cooperation on AI development to preserve public safety and human control

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Member of Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, joined U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and 15 Senate Democrats in calling on President Trump to negotiate a formal agreement between the U.S. and China on guardrails and global standards for the development, testing, and use of frontier Artificial Intelligence (AI) models with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The Senators also urged President Trump to consider enacting a mutual pause in frontier AI development to prevent potential cyberattacks, the development of biological weapons, and other dangerous activities that could threaten humanity. 

The Senators caution that, as extraordinary as the promise of some of AI’s advanced capabilities are, safety incidents make clear that both national and international infrastructure is threatened by unregulated testing and release of AI models: “It is incumbent upon both governments to discuss necessary guardrails and global standards for the development, testing, and use of AI in order to mitigate the risks of unfettered advancement. As you prepare for the upcoming summit, we urge you to engage with President Xi directly to discuss efforts to avoid the potential harms of this technology for the safety and benefit of the world… Protecting American safety and leadership in AI will require international cooperation with many countries, but it must start with serious engagement by the Trump Administration and China at this summit.” 

The Senators urge President Trump that the conversations should include specific focus on the standards needed for development and testing processes, oversight and monitoring of models, enforcing human control over the use of autonomous systems, and technological verification of any agreed upon terms to ensure that an agreement is being enforced: “America leads in AI innovation, and we must lead the world in AI safety and international cooperation, including by working with China to develop a formal agreement that would slow down, and potentially enact a mutual pause in, frontier AI development to prevent cyberattacks, the development of biological weapons, and other dangerous activities that threaten the lives of the American people and humanity writ large.” 

“AI technology is too powerful, and its risks too many, for the U.S. and China to forgo discussions on parameters around its development and use. What our two countries develop as guardrails will serve as a standard for how the technology is used worldwide. Given how quickly AI technology is developing and how transformative it may be, we cannot delay our pursuit of diplomatic efforts to mitigate its risks. Those efforts must start with direct engagement with China to ensure the safety and well-being of all people as AI innovation continues,” the Senators conclude.  

Joining Senators Welch and Van Hollen on this letter are Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Rev. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), and Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.). 

Read and download the Senators’ full letter to President Trump. 

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