American and Chinese companies set new standards

It’s not every day that companies from the United States and China work together. But on Sept. 6, a new coalition of big tech companies representing both global powers announced that they have joined forces to develop new security standards for large language models.

The companies include China’s Ant Group, Tencent, and Baidu along with US firms Microsoft, Google, and Meta. The effort is part of the World Digital Technology Academy, a Geneva-based group established in 2023 under a United Nations framework. The efforts aim to reduce risks throughout the AI supply chain, such as protecting against data leaks and model tampering.

The collaboration represents a rare collaboration between American and Chinese companies at a time when their respective governments are battling over AI dominance and control while systematically blocking one another’s companies from accessing key technologies. While it’s unlikely that this partnership will ease tensions between the American and Chinese governments, perhaps it’ll help forge a way for future collaboration between their industries.