Exclusive: Ro Khanna offers alternative U.S.-China AI playbook
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Potential 2028 presidential contender Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) spells 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 after Trump entered AI discussions with Chinese President Xi Jinping showing little interest in doing much and as 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 its 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 nongovernmental 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.
