China rejected to an AI slowdown. So did the US government. A clear No to Dario's proposal. Reuters reports that Global Times accused the US of trying “to curb China’s AI development through technological barriers and regulatory monopolies.” It called the proposal a “silent AI Cold War” that is “hypocritical and short-sighted.” China’s Foreign Ministry used more diplomatic language. According to AP: “Fearmongering, confrontation and vicious competition will only disrupt the process of global AI governance which serves no one’s interest.” Beijing’s position is clear: it supports international AI governance, but rejects a slowdown combined with US restrictions on Chinese compute and model development. Slow down is over friends before it even started.