Michelle Nichols
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – U.S. targeting of specific Chinese investments in artificial intelligence (AI) will not help the “healthy development” of AI technology and will sow divisions on global governance, China’s U.N. envoy said on Monday.
Last month, the United States released proposed rules that would ban or require notification of certain Chinese investments in artificial intelligence and other technology areas that could threaten U.S. national security.
“We firmly oppose these sanctions,” China’s UN Ambassador Fu Song told reporters after the UN General Assembly’s 193-nation body unanimously adopted a China-drafted resolution aimed at strengthening international cooperation on AI capacity-building.
The UN resolution calls on the international community to “provide and promote a fair, open, inclusive and non-discriminatory business environment throughout the entire lifecycle of safe, secure and trustworthy artificial intelligence systems.”
Hu said the U.S. actions would not foster an inclusive business environment and called on Washington to reverse its decision.
“I believe the U.S. government’s positions and decisions will not be conducive to the healthy development of AI technology itself, and will ultimately divide the world in terms of standards and rules regulating AI,” he said.
The Treasury Department announced the proposed rules after President Joe Biden signed an executive order last August as part of a broader effort to ensure that American know-how doesn’t help China develop advanced technologies and dominate global markets.
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols and Sandra Muller Editing by
