China dismisses US AI safety warnings as fearmongering

China's Foreign Ministry and state media rejected recent AI risk warnings from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and other US AI leaders, calling them "fearmongering" meant to preserve American advantage. State-run Global Times accused Amodei of waging a "silent AI Cold War," and China's security minister called for faster AI infrastructure buildout rather than a slowdown.

Why it matters: This shows the safety-pacing debate splitting along geopolitical lines, not just ideological ones: both the US and China frame AI speed as a national-security question rather than a technical-safety one. It exposes the coordination problem behind voluntary slowdown calls like Amodei's -- even if US labs pace themselves, rivals abroad have no incentive to follow, which undercuts the rationale for restraint.