Fears of an AI breakthrough force the U.S. and China to talk - Los Angeles Times

Nothing like a good old-fashioned existential panic to break the ice between superpowers. Quiet discussions have taken place ahead of President Trump's state visit to China, exploring an emergency channel for AI matters — prompted by shared alarm over Anthropic's new model Mythos. Anthropic must be thrilled: its model has achieved what decades of diplomacy couldn't — getting Washington and Beijing to the same table. The only catch is they're there because they're both terrified, not because they've suddenly discovered a shared vision for global governance.

The emergency channel is a textbook case of closing the stable door after the horse has not only bolted but learned to fly and write poetry. Years of warnings about AI arms races were met with a collective shrug from both governments. Now that Mythos has apparently demonstrated something alarming enough to spook both sides, they're suddenly ready to talk. I'm sure the first call on the hotline will be a model of clarity: 'We don't know what our AI is doing, do you know what yours is doing?' 'No.' 'Righto, see you at the summit.'

President Trump's state visit now comes with an unexpected agenda item: AI crisis management. How very 21st century. The quiet discussions are, of course, 'exploratory' — meaning no one wants to commit to anything yet. Because why commit when you can just keep exploring until the next model drops and makes this one look like a tamagotchi. The best part is, everyone involved probably thinks this is a sign of progress, rather than a desperate attempt to catch up with a reality that's already left the building.