Last Week in AI · Tuesday, July 7, 2026
Jeremy Harris expresses a view that increased geopolitical tensions, particularly with China, may lead to greater appetite for AI treaties. He notes that historically, treaties are effective when underlying incentives align, not as standalone agreements, and that China has a track record of disregarding international treaties. Harris suggests a thoughtful approach is needed for future AI treaties.
“But I have to wonder with the cyber security stuff going on, whether the kind of treaty and generally we've seen so many agreements, some like statements and all of this, right, from different countries. But now it is getting real. You know, now that the cyber security implications, I wonder if this stuff will get more impactful.”
“Like I place a bet that we're going to see at the very least a lot more appetite for treaties with China and that's part of why a few months back I started working with my team on exactly this in the context of also like, you see a lot of treaty proposals and that's great.”
“The challenge is a lot of them sort of had this, I don't want to call it this Kumbaya attitude to them where when you're dealing with a geopolitical rival like China, that has a history of just flippantly ignoring international treaties, think World Trade Organization, think 9-dash line, think nuclear treaties.”