<p>In this episode of the High Capacity podcast, I talk with Matt Sheehan, Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment, about the next phase of the US-China AI race: AI safety, open-source models, AI agents, job displacement, and what the US and China might discuss with each other.</p><p><br /></p><p>As the U.S. and China prepare for formal talks on AI, both sides are wrestling with a fast-changing technology landscape. The U.S. is increasingly worried about frontier model risks, cyber threats, non-state actors, and pre-release testing. China, meanwhile, is becoming more concerned about AI’s impact on jobs, social stability, political control, and the rise of autonomous AI agents.</p><p><br /></p><p>We discuss what China really fears about AI, why Beijing’s AI governance strategy is shifting from control to deployment to broader regulation, how open-source AI might complicate safety talks, and what realistic US-China talks on AI might look like.</p><p><br /></p><p>Topics covered:</p><p>U.S.-China AI talks, AI safety, Chinese AI policy, AI agents, OpenClaw, open-source AI, frontier models, cyber risk, AI job displacement, China’s AI regulations, autonomous weapons, AI hotlines, and the future of AI governance.</p><p><br /></p><p>Links:</p><p>- Matt Sheehan’s <a href="https://mattsheehan.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Substack</a></p><p>- Matt Sheehan’s <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/people/matt-sheehan" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Carnegie page</a></p><p>- “<a href="https://mattsheehan.substack.com/p/china-is-getting-worried-about-ai" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">China is getting worried about AI &amp; jobs</a>”</p><p>- “<a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2026/02/china-is-worried-about-ai-companions-heres-what-its-doing-about-them" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">China Is Worried About AI Companions. Here’s What It’s Doing About Them.</a>”</p><p>- Matt Sheehan on Twitter: <a href="https://x.com/mattsheehan88" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">@mattsheehan88</a></p><p><br /></p><p>For transcripts and more, check out the ⁠<a href="https://www.highcapacity.org/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">High Capacity newsletter⁠</a></p><p>More about the host, <a href="https://www.kyleichan.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Kyle Chan</a>, fellow at Brookings</p>