Warnings from researchers at leading U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) developer Anthropic, that increasingly powerful AI models could escape human control have drawn attention in China, where policymakers have already been preparing for some of the same risks.
The United States and China are the two main drivers of frontier AI development and the technology's global adoption. Both superpowers have been at loggerheads over AI policies and industry practices, with these issues slated to feature prominently in bilateral talks later this month.
Both countries share AI-control concerns but favour different safeguards. Beijing relies more on state oversight; U.S. debate hinges on company-level controls, whilst China flags risk of rogue AI agents and is developing regulation to prevent such incidents.
While the debate in the U.S. is focused on whether frontier AI could pose an existential threat to humanity, Chinese policymakers have generally treated AI as a powerful but governable technology whose risks can be contained through technical standards, regulation and state oversight.
“Chinese and American experts largely agree on AI risks,” said Brian Tse, founder and CEO of Concordia AI, adding the difference was on “how risks are framed and prioritised”.
Chinese developers have increasingly promoted open-weight models. These refer to systems whose underlying parameters can be downloaded, inspected, and modified. Their leading U.S. rivals such as Anthropic and OpenAI, however, do not make these specifications publicly available.
Policy issued in May by China's cyberspace regulator, economic planner and industry ministry identifies “operational loss of control” as a security risk for AI agents - systems that can plan and carry out multi-step tasks more independently than conventional chatbots.
China's strategy requires developers to improve their ability to discover, intervene, block and recover from improper or rogue AI agent behaviour.
The policy also calls on developers to guard against risks including data poisoning, algorithm manipulation and system vulnerabilities. It also says the AI system must be transparent so that users should be informed about agents' autonomous decisions and retain final decision-making authority, so that humans stay in control.
Beijing flags risks from leading U.S. AI models
China's Minister of State Security, Chen Yixin, wrote in a government outlet on Sunday (13 September) that advanced U.S. models such as Anthropic's Mythos and OpenAI's GPT-5.5-Cyber could pose serious risks to China's critical information infrastructure, and called for a comprehensive strengthening of AI security.
Anthropic and OpenAI did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Chinese AI developers have promoted open-weight models partly on the grounds that cybersecurity teams can inspect, modify and deploy them for defensive work.
But experts also highlight the risks posed by open-weight models, which can be modified and redistributed with little oversight.
Regulators flag AI 'loss-of-control' risk
China first included an explicit future loss-of-control scenario in an AI safety framework released in September 2024 under the guidance of the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC).
The document said it could not be ruled out that future AI might autonomously obtain external resources, replicate itself, develop self-awareness and seek external power, creating a risk of competing with humans for control.
The CAC released an expanded version in September 2025. The newer framework sharpened the scenario, saying AI could undergo a sudden and unexpectedly large “leap” in intelligence before acquiring resources, replicating itself and seeking power. It also added a governance principle of “trusted application, preventing loss of control”.
Different approach to 'pacing'
China's regulatory approach differs from calls in some Western AI-safety circles for developers to slow or pause development of the most capable models until stronger safeguards are in place.
It has instead since early this year pushed for the integration of AI into all industries, part of Beijing's bid to make technology the new engine of the world's second-largest economy.
But China has also shown it can delay deployment when officials believe governance has not caught up.
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