More cooperation between China and the United States in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) will bring greater benefits to the world, an Oxford University scholar said as the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) concluded in Shanghai.
The 2026 WAIC and the High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance came to a close in Shanghai on July 20.
Centered around the theme "AI Partnership for a Brighter Future", this four-day global summit brought together officials, industry leaders, and scholars from more than 100 countries to shape the future of AI governance. The event tackled the future of AI through six dynamic tracks: conferences, tech showcases, awards, interactive application experiences, startup incubation, and talent recruitment.
While attending the summit, Sam Daws, a political science professor at Oxford University and a senior advisor to the Oxford Martin AI Governance Initiative, shared his opinions on China's development and contributions in AI industry and on the potential of AI cooperation between China and the U.S. -- two major frontier AI countries.
Daws spoke highly on China's AI capacity building as well as its open and inclusive ideas in global AI governance, underscoring that the country has been supporting the development of global AI technology and the application of AI in developing countries.
He noted that while the U.S. as attempted to place restrictions on China's AI development, including with export controls, these efforts have ultimately backfired, inadvertently driving Chinese innovation in the field.
"I think the export controls probably had the opposite consequence that the U.S. was planning. So we're seeing real progress in China developing frontier models. The latest edition of Kimi is closed or even equal to some of the Western frontier models. And even in areas very hard to achieve, China's also been really working hard to develop its own lithography capabilities. So I think, actually that you'll see that the export controls have meant that China has found more innovative ways to explore AI progress. China has been leading the world in what's called embodied AI -- humanoid robots, AI and manufacturing, and is well ahead of the United States in these areas. I think there's a real potential for the data accumulated through the roll out of embodied AI around the world to make models more and more intelligent," he said.
The scholar stressed that in the field of AI technology, there is both room and necessity for cooperation between China and the United States.
"I think there are many areas for cooperation. The most urgent is on some of the risks from AI that only the U.S. and China -- has the two major frontier AI countries -- can address. Other areas for cooperation would be the risks from the Nexus of AI and biological systems and chemical systems. And thirdly, I hope there'll be cooperation on scientific discoveries. The more cooperation we can have at the level of scientists, the level of academia, the level of governments and the level of companies, between the two AI superpowers, the more we're likely to benefit from those AI discoveries," Daws said.
More China-U.S. cooperation in AI means greater global benefits: Oxford scholar
