Kevin Rudd warns US and China could face AI security crisis unprepared

Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who now heads the Asia Society India Centre, warned on October 8, 2026, that the United States and China risk confronting a serious AI-driven security crisis before putting adequate safeguards in place. He spoke at an event in Mumbai held with the Australian Consulate-General, in conversation with foreign policy expert C. Raja Mohan.

Rudd said he was worried that domestic political divisions and strategic rivalry could stall agreements on managing the risks of increasingly autonomous AI systems. He voiced concern that it might take a shock on the scale of the Cuban Missile Crisis to push the political centre in both capitals into action.

What Rudd wants on the table

According to Rudd, the two powers need a shared understanding of AI-related threats and agreed protocols for testing advanced models before they are deployed. He also called for channels to report cyberattacks, methods to trace where attacks originate and ways to verify that each side is honouring agreed safeguards.

He argued that autonomous systems capable of penetrating or attacking digital infrastructure pose substantial dangers to national security, financial systems and essential services. Speaking to business leaders, he listed geopolitics, emerging technologies and climate change as the three biggest risks facing companies, adding that global mechanisms for governing AI risk remain underdeveloped.

A two-player race, with India as a prize

Rudd characterised the global AI contest as primarily a US-China affair. In his view, Washington leads in advanced computing and frontier models, while Beijing enjoys an edge in energy capacity and in spreading AI across its economy.

He singled out India as well placed in the emerging AI economy, pointing to its skilled technical workforce and a domestic market of 1.4 billion consumers. Those strengths, he suggested, could attract American AI firms searching for commercially viable uses of their technology.

Rudd rejected the idea that war between the US and China is inevitable, framing the core question as whether their rivalry can be managed through diplomacy and mutually understood rules. "The question is, can it be managed strategic competition or unmanaged strategic competition?" he said. He named critical minerals, rare earths and US export controls on advanced technology as key issues in talks between the two, underscoring how AI governance is becoming central to great-power diplomacy.