Kamala Harris Tells Seoul Audience 'the Window Is Shutting' on AI Safeguards, Urges US-China Cooperation

Since she first pushed for a federal AI oversight body and an international treaty in September, Kamala Harris has taken the argument abroad. Speaking today, Oct. 14, at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul, the former vice president said the chance to put guardrails on artificial intelligence is running out.

"If we are to have any guardrails and safeguards, they have to be at the table," Harris said of AI developers. "My concern is that the window is shutting."

Three dangers, one controversial partner

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

She also said the United States should engage China on international rules and standards for the technology. Her argument is that strategic rivalry should not rule out work on shared risks.

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

That is the contested part. China is the main US competitor in AI, and any shared rulebook would require Beijing to accept limits on its own development. Harris did not lay out, in the remarks, how any agreement would be verified.

What she proposed in September

Crypto Briefing reported that Harris's Seoul speech builds on a September statement in which she urged Congress to create a new federal oversight body for frontier AI models and called for an international treaty on AI development with China at the table. It also reported that on Sept. 23, more than 15 Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Chris Van Hollen, urged President Trump to negotiate AI guardrails with China.

The same outlet reports that Trump has dismissed AI safety concerns. No source ties his position to a specific statement.

Harris has no office from which to write regulation. Crypto Briefing reports that Congress has not acted on her September proposals.

Tariffs, Korea and the Iran war

The Seoul appearance was not only about AI. Harris attacked what she called Trump's "erratic tariffs" and their punitive nature. She warned against a transactional approach that she said costs 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?" she said.

She praised South Korean investment in US shipbuilding, semiconductors, electric vehicles and clean energy as "immensely significant and valued." She also called for a renewed US commitment to South Korea.

Harris described growing cooperation among North Korea, Russia, China and Iran as very concerning. She said it means the allies must strengthen deterrence.

That sits awkwardly beside her call for cooperation with Beijing. She presents the two as compatible: deterrence on security, shared rules on AI.

Midterms and 2028

Harris has been campaigning for Democratic candidates ahead of the 2026 midterms. She predicted Democrats would win a House majority and said they have a "very good shot" at taking the Senate. In her telling, that would give Congress a stronger voice on domestic and foreign policy, including the war with Iran.

Asked whether she will run for president again in 2028, she said: "I'm still thinking about it. I haven't decided yet."

The next test of her AI agenda is legislative. Her proposed oversight body and treaty need action from Congress, which has not moved on them, and from a president whose position on China and AI rules is set by the current administration.