Source: U.S. House (sito del deputato Liccardo)

Washington, D.C., September 22, 2026 — Congressmen Sam Liccardo (D-CA) and Kevin Kiley (I-CA) introduced a bipartisan legislative framework to establish coordination between the United States and China on frontier artificial intelligence safety. The proposal advances a two-track approach: clearing legal barriers so top U.S. AI experts from labs, companies, universities, think tanks, and other technical institutions can engage directly with Chinese counterparts, and directing the State Department and the Administration to negotiate binding, verifiable safeguards with China covering testing, evaluation, auditing, transparency, incident reporting, capability pacing, and compliance verification.

The framework also proposes targeted measures including protection of American intellectual property through Commerce Department-led negotiations on model distillation risks; a focus on catastrophic AI threats such as loss of control, alignment failures, AI-enabled chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats, and major cybersecurity risks; creation of a direct U.S.-China hotline for urgent AI incidents (an “AI red phone”); authorization of $100 million for a Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI) to develop common testing and verification standards; tightly controlled expert engagement with advance State Department registration and U.S. government observation; prohibitions on sharing proprietary IP or information aiding model distillation; and required monthly progress updates to Congress from State and Commerce.