DOMINANT ANGLE
Paris sees the announcement by the US Secretary of the Treasury as the first concrete move in a technological duel that remains, above all, a balance of power between two capitals.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
Scott Bessent announced the US proposal for an "incident notification mechanism" on AI during Sunday's discussions in New York, at JPMorgan's headquarters.
- 02
The talks brought together He Lifeng, Chinese Vice Premier, and Commerce Representative Jamieson Greer, just days before the scheduled Trump-Xi summit on Thursday in Washington.
- 03
Bessent mentioned the desired shift from a situation of "opacity" to more "transparency" between the world's top two powers in terms of AI.
ANALYSIS
Paris, September 21, 2026. A day of negotiations in New York, at JPMorgan's headquarters, between US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng: the French press sees it mainly as the prelude to the Trump-Xi summit scheduled for Thursday in Washington. "The United States has proposed setting up a notification mechanism between our two countries," Bessent said at the end of the meeting, specifying that it would be to alert each other "in case of incidents, if something has happened that affects national security."
The cited articles put this proposal in the context of technological rivalry rather than the details of its mechanics. Rivals in AI, Washington and Beijing are said to be "increasingly concerned about the risks after several episodes that have raised fears that the technology is escaping its creators." The two powers are described as engaged in "an AI race that resembles a duel": on the American side, Chinese competition serves as justification to accelerate without limits; on the Chinese side, Beijing presents itself as an alternative to American dominance over technology. Bessent summarized the stated ambition: "We think it's very important to move from a situation of opacity to more transparency between the world's first and second powers in AI." He added that he wants to "define a common vision of our objectives and the threats we face."
These discussions, described as "crucial" to prepare for Xi Jinping's state visit, were held in the presence of US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. He Lifeng, presented as China's chief negotiator for economic and trade issues, is to continue the exchanges before Thursday's summit, which will also address the expiring trade truce in November and Chinese restrictions on rare earths. The French coverage remains focused on these two meetings, in New York and then in Washington, without detailing the precise technical content of the future notification mechanism, its implementation schedule, or how it would fit in with US export controls in the cloud and semiconductors, briefly mentioned as the backdrop to technological tensions between the two capitals.
