OpenAI Floats Global Body Focused On AI Safety Including U.S., China

Chris Lehane, OpenAI’s vice president of global affairs, said the company supports the creation of a global body focused on AI safety.

“AI, in some level, transcends a lot of the prevailing or traditional trade type of issues,” Lehane said.

“There is an opportunity to really start to build something up globally, and have countries around the world, including China, potentially participate,” he added.

The official went on to say the body could resemble the International Atomic Energy Agency, which sets global safety standards for nuclear energy development.

White House AI adviser David Sacks did not address the issue directly, but said on “The Claman Countdown” that “there are things that may be in our common interest, and it’s worthwhile to explore having those conversations.” He also said the U.S. and China could reach an agreement on standards, as neither wants “rogue actors” using AI to cause harm.

However, he cautioned: “The fact is, we have to still protect from against each other. So I think it’s going to be a little bit limited in terms of what we can achieve there.”

Tensions are currently on display as shipments of Nvidia‘s H200 artificial intelligence chips to China have not yet begun even after U.S. authorities reportedly approved purchases by around 10 Chinese companies, according to multiple reports.

The approved buyers include major Chinese technology firms such as Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance and JD.com, along with distributors like Lenovo and Foxconn, according to reporting attributed to Reuters. Each approved company is permitted to purchase up to 75,000 H200 chips under U.S. licensing terms, but no confirmed shipments have been completed so far.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has been seeking progress on the issue during President Donald Trump’s Beijing summit. He was not initially included in a White House delegation to China but later joined after receiving an invitation from Trump, a source familiar with the matter told CNBC.

The approvals come with strict conditions. U.S. Commerce Department rules introduced in January require Chinese buyers to show they have adequate security safeguards in place and confirm the chips will not be used for military purposes, according to reporting linked to policy details referenced in the Congressional Research Service report CRS R48642. Nvidia is also required to certify inventory availability within the United States before any export process proceeds.