Rep. Ro Khanna is proposing a binding U.S.-China agreement on advanced AI safety, arguing that the two countries should treat loss-of-control risks more like nuclear arms control than ordinary technology competition.
Axios reports that the California Democrat set out the approach in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Khanna is the ranking member of the House Select Committee on China and has been positioning AI safety as a major policy issue.
Pauses, audits and a verification system
Khanna calls for a global pause on recursive self-improvement, in which AI systems design and test improvements to themselves, along with a separate pause on superintelligence. He also wants common protocols for kill switches and mandatory pre-release model audits.
The proposal tries to address the central objection to bilateral safety promises: verification. Khanna recommends technical verification tools backed by an international inspection agency or nongovernmental organization that both sides could trust.
His letter arrived as President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed AI without producing a major safety agreement. Khanna argues that Washington and Beijing share an interest in preventing humans from losing control of advanced systems, even when the countries disagree on most other strategic questions. The plan remains a congressional proposal, not U.S. policy or a negotiated treaty.