Opinion | The Cost of Hitting Pause on AI Development

In “Pause AI for Humanity’s Sake” (Declarations, Sept. 12), Peggy Noonan writes that “President Trump and Xi Jinping should hold a summit on guardrails and safety measures” for AI. President Ronald Reagan famously made “trust, but verify” the cornerstone of his dealings with Russia. Would Ms. Noonan ask us to ignore this advice and trust in the Chinese Communist Party to honor a joint agreement with the U.S. to slow down AI development?

In this case, “verify” may be virtually impossible. We can’t credibly monitor China’s AI progress without intrusive access to its data centers, government laboratories and military research facilities. An agreement we can’t independently verify isn’t a safeguard; it’s a risky leap of faith.