Harris warns window closing for AI safeguards, urges US-China cooperation

Kamala Harris urged US-China cooperation on AI rules and standards, saying strategic rivalry should not preclude addressing shared risks. (EPA Images pic) SEOUL: Former US vice president Kamala Harris urged governments and technology companies on Wednesday to urgently put safeguards in place for artificial intelligence, warning that the window for containing its gravest risks was closing.

"If we are to have any guardrails and safeguards, they have to be at the table," Harris said of AI developers during an appearance at South Korea's Asan Institute for Policy Studies.

"My concern is that the window is shutting."

Harris said governments and companies must act immediately against what she described as three existential dangers from AI - cybersecurity threats, AI-enabled weapons and systems escaping human control.

She also urged the US to engage China on international rules and standards for AI, saying their broader strategic rivalry should not preclude cooperation on shared risks.

"There is room for cooperation where our interests are aligned," Harris said, calling for "healthy and robust competition, but not conflict."

Harris criticised what she called US president Donald Trump's "erratic tariffs" and their punitive nature, before warning against a transactional approach that cost the US global influence.

"The question is, are we thinking only about the short term, or do we also value and appreciate the significance of an investment for long-term gain?"

Harris praised South Korean investment in US shipbuilding, semiconductors, electric vehicles and clean energy, calling it "immensely significant and valued".

She also called for renewed US commitment to South Korea, saying growing cooperation among North Korea, Russia, China and Iran was very concerning and meant the allies must strengthen deterrence.

The former vice president has been campaigning for Democratic candidates ahead of the 2026 US midterm elections as she weighs another White House bid.

She said Democrats would win a majority in the House of Representatives and had a "very good shot" at taking the Senate, potentially giving Congress a stronger voice on domestic and foreign policy, including the war with Iran.

Asked whether she would again seek the presidency in 2028, Harris said: "I'm still thinking about it. I haven’t decided yet."