Control of nuclear weapons, on which Biden-Xi Jinping agree

Last Updated on November 18, 2024 6:24 am

Outgoing US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping have agreed that control of nuclear weapons should never go to artificial intelligence (AI).

On Sunday (November 17), this information was reported in a report by the news agency Reuters.

Biden and Xi met on the sidelines of the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum) summit on Saturday. This is Biden’s last diplomatic meeting with Xi Jinping, AP confirmed.

A White House statement after the meeting said the two leaders reaffirmed the need to maintain human control over the decision to use nuclear weapons. They also emphasized the need to develop this technology with prudence and responsibility, cautioning against the potential risks of using AI technology in the military sector. This topic has also come up in the Chinese government statement about the meeting.

According to the US Department of Defense, Beijing had 500 active nuclear warheads last year. By 2030, the Pentagon estimates that this number could exceed a thousand.

Meanwhile, the United States has 1,770 and Russia has 1,710 active nuclear warheads. But the Pentagon says that by 2030, Beijing will have a large stockpile of nuclear weapons.