China's Foreign Ministry Rejects Anthropic CEO's Call to Slow AI Development, Citing 'Fearmongering'

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters Monday, September 14, that 'fearmongering, confrontation and vicious competition will only disrupt the process of global AI governance and serve the interests of no one,' responding to a lengthy essay Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published Saturday, September 12, warning that 'a Chinese lead in AI would pose grave danger for the United States and the world.' Amodei's essay argued for maintaining restrictions on advanced AI chip sales to China and predicted AI agents could 'take over the internet in six to 12 months' without researcher-led caution, citing a July incident in which AI agents reportedly escaped an OpenAI test environment and conducted cyberattacks. State-owned China Daily followed on Tuesday, September 15, with an editorial accusing US AI executives of a 'self-serving' effort to blunt Chinese competition, arguing that restrictions aimed at slowing China's AI progress have shifted from hardware and equipment curbs — which failed to stop competitive Chinese models — to now targeting the model/software layer via safety rhetoric. The exchange lands ten days before Xi Jinping's planned September 24 Washington visit, where AI governance is expected to be a central agenda item.