The European Union and United States said Wednesday they expect to draft a voluntary code of conduct on artificial intelligence “within weeks” with the hope that fellow democracies will sign on.

After talks with EU officials in Sweden, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the Western partners felt the “fierce urgency” to act following the emergence of the technology, in which China has been a growing force.

The voluntary code “would be open to all like-minded countries,” Blinken told reporters.

“There’s almost always a gap when new technologies emerge,” Blinken said, with “the time it takes for governments and institutions to figure out how to legislate or regulate.”