Washington and Beijing Set Up AI Hotline Modeled on Cold War

A direct communication line on artificial intelligence has been established between the United States and China, the White House confirmed on Friday following President Xi Jinping's state visit to Washington.

It remains uncertain whether this channel will curb the pace of AI development. US officials have indicated that their country's AI advancement will continue at full speed.

A Cold War-Style Phone Line for AI

A newly formed US-China Super Intelligence Dialogue, laid out in a White House fact sheet, is set to examine both the dangers and advantages of AI. The initial discussions are scheduled before November, with a separate mechanism dedicated to managing AI-related incidents.

Jamieson Greer, the US Trade Representative, drew a Cold War parallel when describing the new channel.

“I think of like the red phone between the Kremlin and the White House during the Cold War,” CBS reported.

President Xi Jinping stated that AI must evolve "always under human control," as reported by CBS.

Just hours prior to the discussions, President Donald Trump posted a contrasting remark on Truth Social.

“Super Intelligence (SI) will be a big topic of discussion, but I want to leave it exactly where it is. That is China's position also. Our guardrail is the DOJ!”

Dialogue does not equate to deceleration. BeInCrypto noted on September 16 that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had initiated AI risk discussions with Beijing, while simultaneously asserting that the US would maintain its pace of AI development.

China Is Closing In on a Fraction of the Money

Investment disparity is substantial. Stanford's 2026 AI Index reported that US AI startups and companies attracted $285.9 billion in private funding during 2025, compared to $12.4 billion for Chinese firms. The report adds that undisclosed government spending probably raises China's actual total.

However, performance differences are slim. By March, the leading American AI model outperformed its Chinese counterpart by only 2.7%, per Stanford.

Britain Tells Its Own Staff to Use Less AI

This hotline emerges as the United Kingdom adopts a contrasting domestic policy. Proposed guidelines on the UK government's AI Knowledge Hub instruct public sector teams to limit AI usage to necessary cases, with the goal of reducing environmental harm.

BREAKING: the UK government publishes official rules on how to use AI:

1. Ask first if you really need to use AI

2. Check if a spreadsheet can do the job before using AI

3. Choose the worst model possible so it uses less energy

4. Keep prompts short to reduce the…

— Matthias Schmidt (@eurofounder) September 25, 2026

Employees are advised to first consider if a spreadsheet or search engine suffices. When AI is necessary, they should opt for the least resource-intensive model, like Gemini Flash instead of Gemini Pro.

Prompts ought to be concise and used sparingly. The guidance explicitly states, "you don’t need to say thankyou." Furthermore, staff are required to verify AI-generated outputs for correctness and to declare any AI assistance in creating or editing content.

President Trump and President Xi are scheduled to meet again in November at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, aligning with the timeline for the initial AI discussions.