China Daily says Anthropic's AI pause proposal is a tactic to curb Chinese progress
China's state-run newspaper dismissed Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's call to slow frontier AI development as a coordinated response to Chinese competition. The paper argued the proposal aims to blunt China's AI advance, secure favorable U.S. policy, and maintain investor enthusiasm. It also noted that Chinese models like DeepSeek and Kimi K3 have succeeded despite U.S. hardware and software restrictions.
The exchange highlights a deepening geopolitical rift in AI governance, with Chinese state media framing safety proposals as competitive maneuvering rather than genuine concern. China Daily specifically pointed to DeepSeek and Kimi K3 as evidence that domestic models can thrive despite U.S. export controls on advanced chips and accusations of model distillation. The paper also noted shifting market demand toward cheaper Chinese tokens over premium U.S. frontier models.
China's response does acknowledge legitimate risks, with its standardization and cyberspace authorities calling for monitoring of AI development. However, the publication insists any meaningful safety framework must include China, arguing that excluding the world's second-largest AI power undermines the global character of such efforts. The piece closes by urging bilateral cooperation on risks neither nation can manage alone.
This dispute could reshape how international AI safety standards are developed, potentially creating parallel regulatory blocs rather than unified global rules. Businesses and researchers may face divergent compliance requirements depending on jurisdiction, while consumers could see AI access increasingly framed through national competition. The exchange also suggests that safety discourse itself may become politicized, making genuine multilateral cooperation on catastrophic risk harder to achieve.