China’s Xi calls for ‘secure, controllable’ AI as competition with US grows

China's President Xi Jinping on Friday called for developing "secure and controllable" artificial intelligence (AI) amid the growing competition in high tech with the US.

Xi made the remarks televised live at the World AI Conference in China's financial hub Shanghai.

At the event, he announced the establishment of the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, comprising 29 nations and which will be headquartered in Shanghai.

The world has entered an "unprecedentedly vigorous period of innovation" in AI technologies, bringing great opportunities as well as governance challenges, he said.

Xi called AI an "invaluable asset that encapsulates humanity's collective wisdom."

This is the first time Xi has attended the conference, which China has hosted since 2018.

He raised a range of questions such as how "humans can get along with thinking machines, how security can be ensured when algorithms are involved in decision-making, how ethical challenges posed by technologies can be tackled through adaptive governance, and how AI for all can be realized when the divide keeps widening."

These questions, he said, "demand serious consideration and answers from the entire international community."

- 'AI under human control'

Announcing 5,000 opportunities for AI training and seminars over the next five years for developing countries, Xi presented four observations.

"First, we should adhere to the principle of openness and win-win cooperation and boost innovation-driven development," he said.

Noting that the world was undergoing "great changes unseen in a century," he called for "strengthening risk awareness and ensuring that AI is secure and controllable."

"AI should be a trusted tool for humanity," he said, calling for laws and regulations, technological warning and emergency response systems.

"Third," he called for encouraging "inclusiveness and promoting mutual learning among civilizations."

"Fourth, advocating solidarity and improving global governance.

Stressing that AI "is always under human control," Xi urged against "overstretching" the concept of national security in the AI development where the security of one country is placed over "that of others."

He also called for practicing true multilateralism and recognizing the role of the UN.

"AI development should not be a solo performance by a single country, but a symphony of international cooperation," Xi said.