“Global AI governance is still fragmented,” Chinese Premier Li Qiang said at an AI conference in Shanghai on Saturday, proposing a new multilateral organization to help shape how the technology is regulated. He also criticized “technological monopoly, controls and restrictions,” which could make AI “an exclusive game for a small number of countries and enterprises.” (Reuters, Bloomberg)

Talking point: Li didn’t specify which firms or nations were trying to monopolize the technology. But he was speaking the same week as U.S. President Donald Trump laid out his AI Action Plan, which explicitly seeks to dominate the field with American standards and products. Western governments have mostly moved on from discussions two years ago about the need for more AI governance and international co-operation, in favour of pushing AI adoption. Also in Shanghai, AI researchers, including Canadians Geoffrey Hinton and Yoshua Bengio, called for the field to set “agreed red lines that AI systems must never cross,” and for a new international body that would coordinate between national AI safety agencies.