US, China and Russia Discuss Keeping AI Out of Nuclear Launch Decisions Before APEC

Nothing has been agreed, and Donald Trump, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin have not confirmed that they will meet. If they did sign up to the principle that a human, not a machine, makes the final call on nuclear use, all three of the largest nuclear powers would have made the commitment for the first time. In November 2024 Washington and Beijing agreed that humans, not AI, should control decisions to use nuclear weapons. Russia was not part of that statement.

The Post's sources said officials in the three capitals have spent several weeks trading ideas for an agenda, and that it has narrowed to topics where agreement looks achievable. One source described the AI commitment as an easy deliverable because it matches what governments already say in public. The war in Ukraine and the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula have largely dropped off the list. China reportedly wants Ukraine settled in direct talks between Washington and Moscow, and the Korean question handled between the US and North Korea.

According to reports of the preparations, the ideas under discussion go beyond the core principle on human control. They include measures to stop AI being used to take unauthorised control of nuclear systems, limits on cyberattacks against nuclear command, control and communications networks, information exchanges on missile tests, and more transparency about arsenals. Reports describe a ban on cyber or AI-enabled attacks on command systems as one of the less likely outcomes. Diplomats are also working on a joint declaration restating that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. That would repeat an existing principle rather than set any rules for AI in weapons systems.

The three governments come at the talks from different positions. Washington wants to widen nuclear arms control to include China. Beijing has long refused a full three-way format, arguing that its arsenal is much smaller than those of the US and Russia and that those two should first make deep cuts. As a compromise it has reportedly offered talks on transparency and information exchange. The Moscow Times describes Russia as more cautious than China about formal curbs on AI in nuclear command and control, because they could limit its military flexibility.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has confirmed that Moscow is exchanging proposals for an agenda with Washington and Beijing. He did not mention limits on AI.

The idea of a so-called G3 meeting is also making other governments uneasy, because they worry that decisions affecting them would be taken without them. The Post's sources said Japan is especially concerned.

The AI talks follow statements by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent this week that the US and China have set up a dialogue on the risks of superintelligence. A three-way pledge on nuclear command would carry that diplomacy into military AI, where governments have so far made only general statements.

Reports describe the planning for the Shenzhen meeting as slow. With a week to go before APEC leaders arrive, there is no final agreement on who will take part or what they would sign.