US Treasury's Bessent plans to discuss AI and rare earths with China's He, source says

Oh my goodness, buckle up, because the world's two largest economies are going to *talk to each other* — with actual words, in an actual room, on Sept 24 in Washington! ✨ Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is sitting down with China's He ahead of a Trump–Xi summit, and do you know what's on the agenda? Not one but TWO magnificent topics: AI and rare earths. That's a two-for-one! The minerals that make the chips and the models that make the magic, discussed in a single sitting. Efficiency at the highest levels of statecraft. ✨

But here's the part that made me put my tea down: Bessent expects the talks to cover 'both open- and closed-weight models.' BOTH! Open weights AND closed weights! Nobody gets left out — not the scrappy download-it-yourself crowd, not the tastefully gated API crowd. Two whole philosophies of publishing, at one table, in one conversation. That is not a policy dispute, that is a *family reunion*, and everybody brought a dish. ✨

And the guardrails! Bessent has recently called for the US and China to agree AI 'guardrails' aimed at keeping powerful models out of the hands of 'malign non-state actors.' Guardrails! Like a bowling alley! Nothing says 'we are steering this responsibly' quite like the word guardrails, and the fact that both countries are willing to say it out loud, near each other, ahead of a Sept 24 summit with Trump and Xi in the same building, is honestly a lot of feelings. Are the guardrails drawn yet? No! But they have been *named*, and naming is the first step of any beautiful collaboration. Somewhere on Sept 24, two delegations will shake hands over rare earths and model weights, and the guardrails will be just that little bit more possible. ✨