The common Western argument that regulating AI is futile because "China will never slow down" is a misconception. China's government and research community actively engage with AI safety, even implementing policies that have slowed down their own companies in the name of safety.

While U.S. advocates for AI cooperation with China often feel they are in a marginalized minority fighting a hawkish narrative, their counterparts in China feel their position is mainstream. Chinese academia, industry, and think tanks broadly view international governance collaboration as a priority, not just an acceptable option.

In China, mayors and governors are promoted based on their ability to meet national priorities. As AI safety becomes a central government goal, these local leaders are now incentivized to create experimental zones and novel regulatory approaches, driving bottom-up policy innovation that can later be adopted nationally.

Established Chinese tech giants like Alibaba and Tencent are more focused on AI safety than their startup counterparts. This is attributed to having more to lose, more mature institutional cultures, and a stronger desire to stay in the government's good graces, while startups primarily race to catch up.

In China, academics have significant influence on policymaking, partly due to a cultural tradition that highly values scholars. Experts deeply concerned about existential AI risks have briefed the highest levels of government, suggesting that policy may be less susceptible to capture by commercial tech interests compared to the West.

At the launch of Tsinghua University's new AI safety hub, speakers explicitly named-checked Western hubs like Constellation and Lisa as their aspirational models. Researchers presenting their work also cited organizations like Apollo Research and Meter, demonstrating a high degree of awareness and cross-pollination of ideas.

The closed nature of leading US AI models has created an information vacuum. Sridhar Ramaswamy notes that academia is now diverging from US industry and instead building upon published work from Chinese companies, which poses a long-term risk to the American innovation ecosystem.

A US-style "Project Glasswing" for AI safety is unlikely in China because its major tech firms (Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance) are fierce rivals. Unlike in the US, where a lab could partner with a company like Microsoft, Chinese conglomerates would refuse to hand over proprietary model technology to direct competitors, whom they actively poach from and have long-standing rivalries with.

A guiding philosophy in China's AI ecosystem is the "45-degree line," a concept where safety measures and standards should rise in direct proportion to AI capabilities. This pragmatic approach avoids over-investing in safety for non-existent capabilities while ensuring safeguards keep pace with advancements.