Working Groups

Working groups are where UC4's areas of common concern become sustained, regular dialogue. Each one brings together researchers, practitioners, and institutions from both countries to meet on a standing schedule, between and beyond official summits.

Regularly meeting

Regularly meetingArtificial Intelligence

AI Working Group

A standing channel for researchers, practitioners, and policy experts from both countries to compare notes on AI risk, safety, and governance, and to develop practical proposals that official dialogues can pick up.

Meets monthly, virtually, with in-person sessions alongside major conferences.

What the group meets about

  • Shared definitions of high-risk AI capabilities and how to evaluate them
  • Safety testing and evaluation methods that both sides can recognize
  • Preventing AI misuse in biological, chemical, and cyber domains
  • Keeping humans in control of decisions involving nuclear weapons
  • Research exchange, academic openness, and talent mobility
  • Inputs for government-to-government AI dialogue

Who can participate

  • Universities and research institutesAI safety, computer science, and public policy faculty and researchers
  • AI companiesSafety, policy, and research teams at US and Chinese AI developers
  • Think tanks and policy institutesExperts in technology governance and US-China relations
  • Standards and evaluation bodiesOrganizations working on AI testing, benchmarks, and technical standards
  • Government observersOfficials from either side who join in a personal or observer capacity
Ask about joining

In formation

These groups are being scoped now. Each outlines what it would meet about and the kinds of institutions we are inviting to help found it. Founding members shape the agenda, schedule, and membership before the first meeting.

In formationHealth & Disease Preparedness

Health Preparedness Working Group

A proposed forum for public health schools, hospital systems, and disease surveillance experts to compare how each country detects, reports, and prepares for outbreaks, so the next pandemic is met with shared early warning instead of delay and suspicion.

Proposed: quarterly virtual sessions, with an annual in-person convening.

Proposed agenda

  • Norms for sharing genomic surveillance and early-warning data
  • Comparing outbreak reporting timelines and protocols
  • Tracking antimicrobial resistance
  • Joint tabletop exercises for novel pathogen scenarios

Founding members we are seeking

  • Schools of public healthEpidemiology and global health faculty
  • Hospital systemsInfectious disease and emergency preparedness leads
  • Disease surveillance researchersSpecialists in outbreak detection and modeling
  • Global health NGOsOrganizations working on preparedness in third countries
Help found this group
In formationClimate & Energy

Climate Adaptation & Clean Energy Working Group

A proposed working group connecting cities, national labs, and energy researchers from both countries to share what works in adapting to extreme heat, flooding, and drought, and in deploying clean energy at scale.

Proposed: every other month, alternating between technical and city-practitioner sessions.

Proposed agenda

  • Case studies in urban heat and flood adaptation
  • Grid integration and energy storage research
  • Methods for measuring methane and other emissions
  • Standards for climate-resilient infrastructure

Founding members we are seeking

  • City governments and sister citiesResilience and sustainability offices
  • National labs and universitiesEnergy and climate science researchers
  • Climate policy institutesPolicy analysis and modeling teams
  • Clean energy industryEngineers working on generation and storage
Help found this group
In formationSpace

Planetary Defense & Space Safety Working Group

A proposed working group for astronomers, engineers, and space policy scholars to coordinate on tracking near-Earth objects and managing orbital debris, threats that no single country can monitor alone.

Proposed: twice-yearly technical meetings, plus ad hoc calls when a notable object is detected.

Proposed agenda

  • Coordinating near-Earth object observations and alerts
  • Orbital debris tracking and collision-avoidance communication
  • Shared terminology for space safety incidents
  • Lessons from asteroid deflection missions

Founding members we are seeking

  • Observatories and astronomy departmentsNear-Earth object survey and tracking researchers
  • Aerospace engineering programsOrbital mechanics and debris specialists
  • Space policy scholarsSpace law and governance researchers
  • Citizen-science networksAmateur astronomers doing follow-up observation
Help found this group
In formationBiotechnology

Biosafety & Life Sciences Working Group

A proposed working group where biosafety officers, life scientists, and bioethicists align on laboratory safety practices and responsible research norms as biotechnology advances faster than its governance.

Proposed: quarterly sessions, with joint sessions alongside the AI Working Group on AI-enabled biology.

Proposed agenda

  • Laboratory biosafety standards and training
  • Responsible practices for dual-use research
  • Approaches to DNA synthesis screening
  • Assessing risks from AI-enabled biology

Founding members we are seeking

  • University biosafety officesBiosafety officers and committee members
  • Life sciences researchersSynthetic biology and genomics labs
  • BioethicistsResearch ethics and governance scholars
  • Biotech companiesSafety and compliance teams
Help found this group
In formationFood Security

Food Security & Agriculture Working Group

A proposed working group pairing agricultural universities with growers to strengthen crop resilience and supply chain stability, for the benefit of both countries and the many nations that depend on their harvests.

Proposed: seasonal meetings aligned with planting and harvest cycles.

Proposed agenda

  • Research on drought- and heat-tolerant crops
  • Early warning for plant disease and pests
  • Soil health and water-efficient farming
  • Supply chain disruption and food price stability

Founding members we are seeking

  • Agricultural universitiesAgronomy and plant science faculty
  • Growers and farm cooperativesProducers sharing field practice
  • Food security researchersSupply chain and nutrition specialists
  • Agricultural extension servicesPractitioners who bring research to farms
Help found this group

Working groups for our other areas of common concern will open as founding members come forward. If your institution could anchor one, we would like to hear from you.