Beijing shifts focus to AI national security risks — Dawn
China is paying increasing attention to the national security risks of artificial intelligence, including its ability to facilitate cyberattacks. The head of China’s intelligence agency warned this week that the technology could endanger state security, Dawn reports.
Previously, Chinese policymakers focused primarily on the immediate risks of AI use, including deepfakes and child safety. At the same time, the growing capabilities of leading models to hack systems are changing Beijing’s assessment of these threats.
Reports of a WeChat vulnerability
Recently, a small team of programmers from California said it had created a cyber “worm” using AI. According to them, if launched, it could compromise millions of accounts in the Chinese WeChat app.
Kevin Xu, founder of the US technology hedge fund Interconnected Capital, said that China and the United States have more in common than differences on AI security. In his assessment, the cybersecurity consequences of agentic AI bots operating without human control would be among the Chinese authorities’ main concerns.
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Competition and the possibility of cooperation
Amid the global discussion of AI dangers, pressure is growing on Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump to discuss threats to both countries during an in-person meeting on Thursday. Sun Chenghao of Tsinghua University’s Center for International Security and Strategy believes that both states are developing a more realistic and shared understanding of the risks, which increases the need for cooperation.
At the same time, rivalry between the two countries in this field may complicate coordination on joint assessments of AI model safety or the creation of crisis alert systems. Commenting on calls by leading US laboratories to coordinate a slowdown in advanced development, Trump said that the United States is ahead of China in AI and that he wants to preserve this leadership. Sun Chenghao noted that China fears the use of the concept of “security” as a tool to limit its technological development.
China already regulates the use of AI, including by prohibiting the creation of technology-generated avatars that reproduce a person’s appearance without their consent. Brian Tse, CEO of the Beijing consulting firm Concordia AI, said that Chinese AI policy is more focused on current harm to society and individuals.
