Marketplace Tech · Thursday, September 24, 2026
Despite heated rhetoric between the US and China, informal channels for technical experts to discuss AI have been active through track two dialogues involving academics and industry practitioners. These conversations are crucial for setting standards and addressing shared concerns, even as geopolitical tensions make such collaboration difficult.
“Considering all of the heated rhetoric and the rivalry, I think many people would be surprised to hear that quietly behind the scenes, there have been informal channels for technical experts to talk.”
“I've been in a number of what are called track two dialogues, where there are people who are not in the government, coming together with academics, with industry practitioners from both sides to talk about shared concerns, to talk about policies.”
“In terms of the technical experts, that sometimes where the rubber meets the road. It's important to have conversations about policy. It's also important for people who understand the technology from an engineering standpoint to talk standards. And that's actually happening. It's informal.”