Bessent and He open U.S.–China AI talks in New York

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng began talks in New York on artificial-intelligence guardrails, trade, and critical minerals, aiming to tee up agreements for this week’s Trump–Xi summit in Washington.

POLITICS desk — The U.S. and China are the two main forces building frontier AI. Putting AI guardrails on the same agenda as tariffs and rare earths makes model-safety politics a trade-negotiation chip — and this meeting is the near-term checkpoint before Trump and Xi meet in person.

The meetings are at JPMorgan Chase headquarters in Manhattan and also include U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. USTR is the U.S. official who runs trade talks and tariff policy. Reuters says the meetings started shortly after Bessent’s arrival around 10:30 a.m. ET (1430 GMT) and were expected to run all day. File the venue, the Greer seat, and the all-day start as Reuters’. This desk did not walk the floor.

Before heading into the meeting, Bessent told reporters he looked forward to “focused, fulsome and constructive talks” that would pave the way for the coming Trump–Xi summit in Washington. File that line as Bessent’s, via Reuters. This desk did not interview him.

Key topics, as Reuters lists them: a U.S.–China trade truce set to expire November 10; flows of Chinese rare-earth magnets and critical minerals that U.S. officials say are insufficient; and potential “guard rails” for artificial intelligence after reports of security breaches involving AI models. Rare earths are a set of metals used in magnets, motors, and the electronics that power AI chips. File that agenda as Reuters’. This desk is not inventing a deal on any of those items.

Bessent said Friday he expects the AI discussions to cover “both open and closed-weight models.” Open-weight models are AI systems whose core numbers — the weights — are public, so users can download and fine-tune them. Closed-weight models keep those numbers private, the way OpenAI and Anthropic usually ship. Bessent said the United States remains the leader in AI and is open to discussions on avoiding shared risks and avoiding bifurcation of the two systems. File those Friday lines as Bessent’s, via Reuters. This desk is not ranking the labs.

Bessent has called for the U.S. and China to agree on AI guardrails aimed at keeping powerful models out of the hands of malign non-state actors — people or groups outside governments who could misuse a model. File that ask as Bessent’s, via Reuters. It is a talking point for these talks, not a signed rule.

China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Saturday that He would also lead a Chinese business delegation to the U.S. for economic and trade consultations ahead of the summit. File that as the ministry’s line, via Reuters. This desk did not meet the delegation.

Plain English for the rest of the card: USTR = U.S. Trade Representative, the official who runs U.S. trade talks and tariff policy — here, Jamieson Greer. rare earths = metals used in magnets and the electronics that go into AI hardware; China is the main supplier of processed rare-earth magnets. open-weight = a model you can download and fine-tune because its core weights are public. closed-weight = a model whose core weights stay private. guardrails = agreed limits meant to keep powerful models away from people who would misuse them. trade truce = the current pause on a worse tariff fight, set to expire November 10. This meeting is talks, not a signed deal.

CONFIRMED here: Reuters’ 20 Sep 2026 New York report of Bessent’s and He Lifeng’s arrival and the start of the JPMorgan talks — Tier B, not a Treasury or Ministry of Commerce newsroom PRIMARY. CNBC is a same-day Reuters pickup of the planned meeting and agenda — not a substitute primary for the arrival, the 10:30 a.m. ET start, or Bessent’s on-the-record “focused, fulsome and constructive talks” line. The arrival, the JPMorgan / Greer / all-day picture, the on-the-record quote, the November 10 truce / rare-earth / AI-guardrail agenda, the Friday open-and-closed-weight and leader / shared-risks / no-bifurcation lines, the malign-non-state-actor guardrail ask, and the Chinese business-delegation line are Reuters-attributed. NOT claimed: that a deal was reached, a joint statement, a finished Trump–Xi communique, that this desk sat in the room, a stock tip, or investment advice. Distinct from the already-filed trump-ai-force-czar, trump-rejects-ai-guardrails-amodei, china-tc260-ai-safety-framework-3-0, and coxon-meet-the-press-ai-global-coordination.