Beijing believes slowdown calls aim to lock in US advantage, and is pursuing a different balance between safety and pace

• China bogeyman looms large over American firms’ AI doomsday scenario

About two years ago, education entrepreneur Boris But had what he calls a “penny-drop moment” - that, like countless others in China, his company needed to embrace AI before it was made obsolete by it.

His clients, well-off parents looking to send their children to study overseas, had begun arriving in his office reeling off information and opinions gleaned not from rival firms, but from chatbots.