Some tech bosses and political leaders have warned the rapid development of AI poses an existential threat to the world, sparking a race by governments and international institutions to design safeguards and regulation for the future.

In a first for Western efforts to manage the safe development of AI, a Chinese vice minister joined leaders from the United States and the European Union, alongside tech bosses such as Elon Musk and ChatGPT’s Sam Altman.

“China is willing to enhance our dialogue and communication in AI safety with all sides, contributing to an international mechanism with global participation in governance framework that needs wide consensus,” Wu Zhaohui said at the start of the summit, according to an official translation of his remarks.

“Countries regardless of their size and scale have equal rights to develop and use AI,” he added.

Musk, who has warned about the risks of AI, said the summit wanted to establish a “third-party referee” for companies developing the technology, so it could sound the alarm when risks develop, and so instil confidence in the public.

The meeting – held at Bletchley Park, home of Britain’s World War Two code-breakers – is the brainchild of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. He wants to carve out a role for Britain as an intermediary between the economic blocs of the United States, China and the EU.

The summit is focused on highly capable general-purpose models called “frontier AI”

Participating governments produced a “Bletchley Declaration”, with 28 countries and the EU agreeing the need for transparency and accountability from actors in frontier AI technology, including how they will measure, monitor and mitigate potentially harmful capabilities.