SHANGHAI: Artificial intelligence should not be dominated by a single country, China's President Xi Jinping said Friday (Jul 17), urging international cooperation on its development at a major conference in Shanghai.

Chinese AI models are catching up to the most powerful US offerings, while attracting global users with lower costs.

But how to govern the booming sector has become a key topic, as concerns over the deployment of AI in military combat, or its use by hackers and terrorists grow.

"AI development should not be a solo performance by a single country, but a symphony of international cooperation," Xi said at the opening of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference.

"We should jointly oppose overstretching the national security concept in the field of AI or placing one country's security over that of others," Xi added.

The United States and European Union have imposed restrictions on Chinese tech imports, citing national security concerns, while recent tussles between Washington and American AI labs have raised questions on who controls access to top technology.

The WAIC conference is "the most important annual event for understanding the direction of China's AI industry", said Poe Zhao of analysis publication Hello China Tech.

"The United States retains a clear lead in advanced chips, frontier computing infrastructure and the most capital-intensive model development," Zhao told AFP.

But "China is its closest and most comprehensive competitor".

"UNDER HUMAN CONTROL"

The four-day WAIC draws more than 1,000 of China's tech firms together with officials, researchers and industry figures.

Around 3,000 products are on display, from powerful semiconductor systems for AI computing to a smartphone that can autonomously operate apps.

But eyes were first on Xi's vision of how the world should handle the potential impact of AI on cybersecurity and conflict, as well as on jobs and the world economy.

"We should put in place laws and regulations, technological monitoring, early warning, and emergency response systems, in order to ... ensure AI is always under human control," Xi told the conference, calling for a "people-centric" approach.

On Thursday, foreign minister Wang Yi and representatives from 29 countries, including Russia, Pakistan and Indo...