Show Notes
In this episode of the High Capacity podcast, I talk with Matt Sheehan, Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment, about the next phase of the US-China AI race: AI safety, open-source models, AI agents, job displacement, and what the US and China might discuss with each other.
As the U.S. and China prepare for formal talks on AI, both sides are wrestling with a fast-changing technology landscape. The U.S. is increasingly worried about frontier model risks, cyber threats, non-state actors, and pre-release testing. China, meanwhile, is becoming more concerned about AI’s impact on jobs, social stability, political control, and the rise of autonomous AI agents.
We discuss what China really fears about AI, why Beijing’s AI governance strategy is shifting from control to deployment to broader regulation, how open-source AI might complicate safety talks, and what realistic US-China talks on AI might look like.
Topics covered: U.S.-China AI talks, AI safety, Chinese AI policy, AI agents, OpenClaw, open-source AI, frontier models, cyber risk, AI job displacement, China’s AI regulations, autonomous weapons, AI hotlines, and the future of AI governance.
Links: - Matt Sheehan’s Substack - Matt Sheehan’s Carnegie page - “China is getting worried about AI & jobs” - “China Is Worried About AI Companions. Here’s What It’s Doing About Them.” - Matt Sheehan on Twitter: @mattsheehan88
For transcripts and more, check out the High Capacity newsletter More about the host, Kyle Chan, fellow at Brookings
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Is the U.S.–China AI competition really a winner-take-all race to AGI? Why has China embraced open-source AI? And are the biggest frontier models actually the greatest security threat? In this episode, I speak with Alvin Wang Graylin, a Digital Fellow at the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, a Senior Fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis, a professor of AI and technology policy at the University of Washington, and co-author of Our Next Reality. We discuss: • China’s AI strategy and its focus on spreading AI throughout the economy • Why the “decisive strategic advantage” theory may misread the U.S.–China AI relationship • The prisoner’s dilemma, the stag hunt, and the case for cooperation on AI safety • China’s open-source AI ecosystem and the debate over open versus closed models • Why small, specialized AI systems may pose greater security risks than frontier models • How export controls may be accelerating Chinese AI innovation • China’s push into robotics, manufacturing, and physical AI • How China’s technology industry has changed over the past three decades Read Alvin’s essays, “Misdiagnosing the U.S.–China AI Race” and “The Biggest AI Models Are Not the Biggest Threats.” You can also follow Alvin on X and LinkedIn, or read his Substack, The Abundanist. For transcripts and more information, visit the High Capacity newsletter. Follow host Kyle Chan on X.
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