China's Xi Jinping launches new AI alliance amid global competition
Xi Jinping urged countries to cooperate on artificial intelligence and ensure no country dominates the technology, launching WAICO, formally formed on July 16, with 29 member founding countries including Indonesia, Brazil, Malaysia, South Africa, Senegal, Russia and Pakistan.
Objective Facts
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday urged countries to cooperate on artificial intelligence and ensure no country dominates the technology – in an apparent jab at the United States. The World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation (WAICO) was formally formed on July 16, with 29 member founding countries including Indonesia, Brazil, Malaysia, South Africa, Senegal, Russia and Pakistan, headquartered in Shanghai. Xi announced that China will provide developing countries with 5,000 opportunities in AI training and seminar programs, as well as develop AI cooperation with various blocs, including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the League of Arab States and the African Union. The new AI cooperation organization can be viewed as China's answer to the U.S.-led Pax Silica initiative, which focuses on strengthening collaboration with U.S. allies and partners on AI-related supply chains. Regional media in member states such as Kazakhstan, through its minister for AI and digital development, described WAICO's creation as moving the focus "from declarations to practical collaboration" and empowering nations to help craft international AI guidelines.
Left-Leaning Perspective
CNN's George Chen noted that "Xi sees AI as an opportunity to get more allies to compete with the US, not just in AI technology, but also in international relations – (this is) AI diplomacy," adding that China feels it missed the chance to set the rules on the global development of the world wide web over recent decades, but the arrival of AI finds it in a much stronger position. Governance expert Arindrajit Basu wrote in an analysis for the US think tank Carnegie Endowment for International Peace that "With Washington rapidly retreating from global cyber and AI norms-setting processes and withdrawing its financial backing for cyber diplomacy more broadly, Beijing is keen to demonstrate its global leadership." War on the Rocks analysis notes that the co-evolution of AI governance standards and AI infrastructure has major effects on U.S. AI export competitiveness, and even as the United States maintains its lead in frontier AI capabilities, the rapid proliferation of lower-cost open-weight Chinese models poses security risks and risks entrenching Chinese standards.
Right-Leaning Perspective
Bloomberg reports that Xi used the rise of China's AI models to stake his claim on shaping the technology's global rules, even as their growing power stirs security alarms in Washington, with Chinese models' share of US firms' AI usage nearing record 60% on the popular marketplace OpenRouter. War on the Rocks analysis characterizes China's diplomats as on an "AI governance" offensive, emphasizing that China is exporting a full-stack AI ecosystem from standards to models, which provides an almost turnkey solution that may be particularly attractive to countries with weaker regulatory capacity or governments that may be less concerned about political values they view as being defined by liberal democracies. NaturalNews reporting notes that some nations, including India, remain skeptical of the people-centered pitch from China and Russia given their authoritarian governance, with India's former UN ambassador warning that WAICO could end up determining the "new global AI order."
Deep Dive
Rather than competing solely over semiconductor manufacturing or AI models, both powers are increasingly competing over who writes the rules governing the future digital economy. Xi Jinping's speech reflects a significant evolution in China's AI strategy, with Beijing no longer presenting itself simply as a technological challenger seeking to catch up with Silicon Valley but instead positioning itself as an architect of an alternative international technology order, mirroring China's broader foreign policy approach through the Belt and Road Initiative and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. WAICO's institutional design joins three features that no constituted multilateral body currently combines: membership open to any sovereign state, no values or regime-type test for entry, and an agenda built around development and the global capability divide. The incumbent Western-led bodies gate membership by shared values and concentrate on rights and safety; the universal United Nations bodies are open but anchored in human rights; a development-first agenda is otherwise carried by the regional strategies of the Global South. Cotton and other right-leaning voices argue that America's position in artificial intelligence will have sweeping implications for the country's economic strength, military capabilities, diplomatic influence and national security. How many further countries join WAICO — and whether any US allies break ranks to do so — will show whether Xi's pitch converts into durable influence over global AI rules. The upcoming U.S.-China AI dialogue will be closely watched not simply for signs of cooperation on AI safety, but for indications of whether the world's two largest economies can prevent technological competition from evolving into a fully fragmented global AI order.
Regional Perspective
Kazakhstan's minister for AI and digital development framed WAICO's creation as moving the focus "from declarations to practical collaboration" and emphasized that nations now vie for technology, talent, computing power, data, and the opportunity to influence international AI standards. Indonesia's government sent its coordinating minister for economic affairs to sign the agreement, with the delegation statement describing WAICO as a forum for governance, ethical standards, and collaborative AI development. Pakistan's foreign ministry formally declared its participation. Indian officials and analysts have cautioned that WAICO could shape the new global AI order and that democratic nations should remain vigilant about its governance implications. India remains skeptical of the people-centered pitch from China and Russia given their authoritarian governance. Regional media in non-member democracies such as Australia and Japan did not formally join, reflecting alignment with the U.S.-led Pax Silica framework instead. The opening ceremony featured keynote addresses by leaders from Kazakhstan, Cambodia and Thailand, with their collective voice laying bare what developing nations genuinely pursue in AI governance — a shared vision that the future of AI should be shaped through broader international participation, with developing countries able to access opportunities created by technological progress, framing AI governance ultimately as about ensuring innovation becomes a driver of development rather than geopolitical rivalry.