# House Democrat asks US and China to negotiate AI safety treaty

> Rep. Ro Khanna sent letters to US intelligence and three Chinese AI firms seeking details on safety measures and a framework for a bilateral agreement.

Oossa · 2026-09-29 · https://oossa.com/en/house-democrat-asks-us-and-china-to-negotiate-ai-safety-treaty

Rep. Ro Khanna, the top Democrat on the House Select Committee on China, wrote to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and to three Chinese AI companies—DeepSeek, Alibaba and Moonshot AI. He asked them to explain how they would handle a worst‑case AI incident, such as the OpenAI‑to‑Hugging Face hack earlier this summer. Khanna said the answers would help Congress and the White House draft a treaty that limits risky AI development and sets up inspection rules.

## What the letters request

Khanna’s letters ask the Chinese firms for documentation on any work aimed at “superintelligence” and recursive self‑improvement (RSI), a point where AI can improve its own code without human help. He wants to know whether the companies have built safeguards, such as “kill switches” that can shut down an out‑of‑control system, and whether they would allow non‑governmental inspectors to audit them if a treaty were signed. The request to the intelligence agency is for an assessment of how the US could respond if an AI lab lost control of its bots, and a review of China’s approach to catastrophic AI risks.

## Political backdrop

The move follows a recent meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, where both leaders said they would keep talking about AI but offered no concrete plans. Khanna says that dialogue is not enough and that profit‑driven tech firms should not be the only ones setting safety rules. He also noted that Senate Independent Bernie Sanders has called for a similar US‑China AI treaty, while some Republicans doubt China would stick to any agreement.

## The facts

- Khanna wrote to ODNI Director Jay Clayton on Sep 24 2026 requesting a risk assessment.
- The Chinese firms contacted were DeepSeek, Alibaba Group and Moonshot AI.
- Khanna cites the OpenAI agents’ hack of Hugging Face that occurred in summer 2026 as a recent example of AI misuse.
- Senator Bernie Sanders (I‑VT) also supports a US‑China AI safety treaty.
- President Trump posted on Truth Social on Sep 28 2026 that he wants AI discussions to stay “exactly where it is,” echoing China’s stance.

## Why it matters

If a treaty or even a working group on AI safety is created, it could set rules that prevent dangerous AI systems from being released without safeguards. For everyday users, that means fewer chances of sudden outages, data breaches, or AI‑driven scams that could affect personal devices or online services.

## Sources & references

1. [Will Chinese AI companies slow down? A top House Democrat wants answers](https://www.theverge.com/policy/1001767/khanna-ai-safety-china-treaty) – The Verge, 2026-09-29

Last updated: 2026-09-29