Bessent says US and China agree to formal AI safety dialogue, with Shenzhen follow-up planned

Reuters reported on September 21 that Bessent said after the New York talks that the United States and China had agreed to formalize an AI safety dialogue and expected to meet again in Shenzhen in about two months. The Associated Press also reported that the two sides agreed to continue the AI dialogue.

Bessent said the dialogue would include an AI-safety incident line for situations involving potentially uncontrollable agents, non-state actors or cyber attackers using artificial intelligence. That account comes from a US official. China's public readout called the talks candid, in-depth and constructive but did not disclose details of the incident mechanism.

The development updates N Globe's September 20 report. At that point Washington had announced only that it proposed an incident-notification mechanism, and Chinese acceptance could not be established. Bessent's September 21 account is the first public description of a mutually agreed formal follow-up.

The two sides also discussed the trade truce due to expire on November 10. Bessent said the meeting produced no agreement to extend it. Tariffs, purchases of US agricultural products and Boeing aircraft, and supplies of rare-earth magnets and other critical minerals remain unresolved.

A previously launched Board of Trade is to study nonsensitive goods that might qualify for lower tariffs, including consumer products, agriculture, energy and medical devices. No tariff rate, product list or implementation date has been announced.

Public information does not say when the AI incident line will operate, what events must be reported, which agencies will run it or whether it has legal force. N Globe therefore attributes the bilateral arrangement to Bessent and does not treat undisclosed implementation details as confirmed.

Verification status: corrected/updated. News value: A-level major news. Origin region: United States (New York). Primary section: Technology. Related regions: China and World. Main source published: September 21, 2026, 13:25 UTC. N Globe updated: September 21, 2026.