US and China reach unexpected deal about nukes and robots

At yesterdays meeting Joe Biden and Xi Jinping found common-ground on a critical issue: humans not computers should control nuclear weapons. The White House statement shows both leaders want careful AI development in military stuff (especially regarding nuclear decisions)

The timing is interesting; since about 4 years ago China has been super-busy with its nuclear program - building new subs testing hyper-sonic missiles and doing sea-patrols with nuclear weapons. The Pentagon thinks China has like 500 nukes now and will probably get twice as many by 2030: which is still less than what US and Russia have

Chinese officials dont usually talk much about their nuclear stuff but they say its just for defense. Earlier this year some Chinese experts told US researchers that western numbers are way-off but didnt give their own numbers. The country has a no-first-strike rule and says its keeping things minimal - they want other countries to do the same

• New missile submarines
• Testing of hyper-sonic weapons
• Regular nuclear sea patrols

The agreement is kinda special because these two countries havent gotten anywhere with nuclear talks before. They started talking about AI stuff in Geneva last spring but that didnt cover nuclear decisions. Now its different - they both agree that keeping humans in charge of the worlds most dangerous weapons is pretty important

The meeting shows both sides can work together on big issues even though China isnt super-excited about nuclear talks. Its a rare moment where both countries agree on something important: letting robots decide about nukes would be a bad idea