Why China is pushing back on US warnings over rapid AI development

Beijing believes slowdown calls aim to lock in US advantage, and is pursuing a different balance between safety and pace

About two years ago, education entrepreneur Boris But had what he calls a “penny-drop moment” – that, like countless others in China, his company needed to embrace AI before it was made obsolete by it.

His clients, well-off parents looking to send their children to study overseas, had begun arriving in his office reeling off information and opinions gleaned not from rival firms, but from chatbots.