U.S.-China "red telephone" could bring a Cold War guardrail to AI

AxiosSeptember 22, 2026en

A distinctly Cold War calculus is looming over this week's Trump-Xi summit in Washington, as the U.S. and China weigh an emergency "red phone" for the day AI goes haywire. Why it matters: U.S.-China relations are so brittle that an AI hotline — not a trade pact, strategic slowdown or diplomatic reset — could emerge as the summit's most meaningful outcome. State of play: President Trump has spent the past week lashing out at AI "doomers" and boiling the race down to a single imperative: beat China. Trump has called AI-catastrophe fears a "HOAX" and vowed the U.S. would "not in any way hinder or stifle" AI as it fights to preserve its lead over Beijing. America's leading AI labs largely share

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