The Message: Cooperation Over Confrontation

In his remarks, Xi framed the relationship between the world's two largest economies as one in which working together is not optional. Without cooperation between the United States and China, he indicated, key challenges cannot be addressed — a position he tied directly to the rapid advance of AI technology.

The statement places the Chinese leadership's position on record at a time when AI development has become a central arena of strategic competition, with export controls on advanced semiconductors and GPU shipments shaping the technology race between the two countries.

Human Control as the Guiding Principle

The second pillar of Xi's remarks concerned the direction of AI itself. He stressed that people, not machines, must remain in control of AI's development — an emphasis on human oversight that aligns with themes China has advanced in international AI governance discussions.

The comment comes as large language models and AI systems are being deployed at scale globally, intensifying debate among governments over safety frameworks, regulatory oversight, and the role of state policy in steering the technology.

Context: AI and the Broader Bilateral Relationship

Xi's remarks connect two threads running through current US-China relations: technology competition, particularly around semiconductors and the computing hardware that underpins AI, and the search for channels of dialogue between Washington and Beijing. The call for cooperation signals Beijing's stated preference for managing that competition through engagement rather than escalation, though the remarks did not detail specific policy measures.

The statement was reviewed against a broad set of primary source material documenting the remarks and their context, and the claim accurately reflects what Xi said.

The claim that Xi Jinping called for US-China cooperation and said humans must control AI development is True.