Russia, China and the United States are discussing the possibility of making a mutual commitment to limit the use of artificial intelligence in their nuclear arsenals. Hong Kong-based newspaper South China Morning Post reported this, citing informed sources.
According to the newspaper, the issue is being prepared for a trilateral leaders’ meeting scheduled for next week on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Shenzhen, China.
Agenda narrowed
The newspaper writes that working-level negotiators have left only issues on the agenda where consensus is possible. More contentious matters, including the conflict in Ukraine and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, have effectively been removed from the discussions. According to SCMP, Beijing prefers Moscow and Washington to discuss the Ukraine issue directly.

In addition to restrictions on AI in nuclear forces command systems, diplomats from the three countries are also working on a joint declaration affirming the principle that there can be no winners in a nuclear war and that such a war must never be waged, the newspaper reports. Russia, meanwhile, is cautious about formal restrictions that could limit its military flexibility, the newspaper notes.
Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said earlier this week that Moscow was exchanging proposals on the meeting’s agenda with Washington and Beijing. He said that “the broadest possible range of issues” could be discussed.
Photo: Russian Ministry of Defense, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0, CC BY-SA 4.0; archive)