17 Senate Democrats Push Trump for AI Development Pact with China

A bipartisan concern about artificial intelligence safety has prompted 17 Democratic senators to formally request that President Donald Trump pursue an agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping to slow or pause advanced AI development.

The senators sent their letter Wednesday, ahead of Xi's upcoming visit to the United States for a long-anticipated summit with Trump. Led by Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, the group argues that both nations share a common interest in preventing harm from increasingly powerful AI systems, according to details first reported by POLITICO.

The proposal

The letter calls for Trump to "engage with President Xi directly to discuss efforts to avoid the potential harms of this technology for the safety and benefit of the world." The senators specifically advocate for a formal agreement that would slow down and potentially enact a mutual pause in frontier AI development.

Notable signatories include Senators Maria Cantwell, Richard Blumenthal, Elizabeth Warren, and Patty Murray, representing both tech-heavy states and lawmakers known for hawkish positions on China.

Why it matters

This request reflects growing anxiety in Washington that the competitive race for AI supremacy could override safety considerations. The senators are attempting to reframe U.S.-China AI competition from a zero-sum contest into an area where cooperation on risk management serves both nations' interests. Their timing—immediately before a presidential summit—suggests they view this as a narrow window for diplomatic action on what they consider an urgent global challenge.

Administration resistance

The White House has signaled little appetite for constraining AI development. Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly just days before Xi's scheduled visit, Trump dismissed the concept of global AI governance. "We're leading now over China by a lot and everyone else, and we're going to keep it that way," Trump said, adding that he would not "stifle growth of anything that's going to be bigger than the Industrial Revolution."

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent proposed a more modest "notification mechanism" for discussing AI incidents between the two countries following his Sunday meeting with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. The arrangement falls well short of the development pause the senators are advocating.

The safety argument

The Democratic lawmakers explicitly reject the argument that losing an AI race to China represents an existential threat to American power. Instead, they contend that "AI technology is too powerful, and its risks too many, for the U.S. and China to forgo discussions on parameters around its development and use."

The letter notes that guardrails established between Washington and Beijing would likely set standards for global AI use. The senators reference recent Silicon Valley whistleblower disclosures and surging public concern about AI risks as catalysts for their request.

The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the letter, according to POLITICO's reporting.