Exclusive: Ro Khanna offers alternative U.S.-China AI playbook
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Potential 2028 contender Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) is spelling out how he would tackle AI safety collaboration with China in a new letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Why it matters: Khanna is offering a sharply different approach to managing AI risks with Beijing, pushing for a binding treaty and international inspections as President Trump signals little inclination to pursue AI safeguards.
Driving the news: Khanna's letter comes as Trump entered AI discussions with Chinese President Xi Jinping with a lack of interest in doing much and meetings in Washington come to an end with no major breakthroughs.
- Khanna, the ranking member on the House China Select Committee, laid out five provisions he wants in a U.S.-China AI agreement.
- He calls for a global pause on recursive self-improvement — a process in which AI systems build, test and improve themselves — and a separate global pause on superintelligence.
The U.S. and China should also agree on protocols for "kill switches" across advanced AI models, Khanna writes.
- He wants every AI company to be required to audit their models before release.
Between the lines: Trusting Beijing has become a major sticking point for policymakers seeking AI coordination with the adversary nation.
- Khanna says a U.S.-China agreement should be backed by verification technologies and inspection regimes.
- He recommends an international inspection agency or non-governmental organization "that could inspire trust from both sides."
The big picture: Washington under Republican leadership is under fire for not doing enough to regulate AI. Democrats are looking to take advantage.
- Khanna is among a crop of potential 2028 contenders seizing on AI safety as a key policy issue.
- His proposal takes that debate international, drawing a parallel to Cold War nuclear arms control.
- "Just like America and the USSR set aside our vast differences to save the world from nuclear war, the U.S. and China share a common interest in ensuring humans never lose control of AI," Khanna writes.
