China security chief Chen Yixin urges global AI guardrails, cites five risks

September 15, 2026 at 11:00 PM1 min

This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.

China's Minister of State Security Chen Yixin called for global regulation of artificial intelligence, describing AI as a new arena for strategic rivalry among major powers. In an article in China Cyberspace, he outlined five risks: ideological manipulation, infrastructure attacks, data leaks, development gaps, and espionage. The call comes as US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned that losing the AI race to China would have dire consequences.

Key Facts

Chen Yixin published the article in China Cyberspace, a journal run by the Cyberspace Administration of China.
Chen identified five AI risks: ideological security, critical information infrastructure, data leaks, development gap, and espionage.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on September 9, 2026, that losing the AI race to China would mean 'no day after tomorrow'.
Chen warned that foreign intelligence agencies use smart web crawlers and data mining to harvest state, business, and personal data.

Five AI Risks

Chen Yixin outlined five key risks of AI development in his China Cyberspace article. He said AI could be leveraged by hostile forces to create fake news and divide the population. Chen warned that lowering barriers to entry make disruptive cyberattacks quicker and easier. He said foreign intelligence agencies exploit smart web crawlers and data mining to harvest sensitive information. Chen also warned that reckless sharing of sensitive data with foreign AI tools could cause catastrophic leaks.

US-China AI Rivalry

Chen did not name specific countries, but the South China Morning Post noted the US administration's warning against China surpassing it in AI. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on September 9, 2026, that there is 'no day after tomorrow' if China wins the AI race. Bessent made the remarks at a Breitbart News event in Washington, according to Bloomberg.