China formally launched the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, or WAICO, in Shanghai today, with 29 founding member nations including Russia, Brazil, Indonesia, and Pakistan. President Xi Jinping delivered the keynote address at the annual World AI Conference — his first personal appearance at the event since it began — and said WAICO would push back on what he called the "overstretching" of national security concerns. The US, all EU member states, the UK, Japan, and South Korea did not join. The US-led Pax Silica initiative, launched in late 2025, already has 35 member nations and focuses on locking down semiconductor supply chains for US-aligned partners. The two bodies now represent competing answers to the same question: who sets the rules for how AI gets built, shared, and governed.

Washington Calls It a Power Play

The US and its allies say China built WAICO to export its governance model, not to democratize AI.

China wants to write the rules for global AI. George Chen, partner and head of digital practice at The Asia Group, framed the stakes plainly: "This is not just about competing on technology — it is about competing on standards." WAICO is open to any sovereign state, with no regime-type entry requirements and no human rights conditions — China can use it to spread its governance approach across the Global South without Western constraints. Xi's keynote called for AI that is "people-centered" and "secure and controllable" — phrasing that in Beijing's governance context typically means AI that governments, not individuals, control.

The US has a rival structure. Pax Silica, now 35 nations strong, is the explicit counter. Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair, praised it as a way to counter "China's coercion" and give US allies access to trusted technology supply chains. The overlap is thin. Kazakhstan is the only country that signed both — most US-aligned partners did not join. Chen puts it this way: Pax Silica controls the hardware backbone; WAICO wants to write the rules.

But Xi's Offer Is Concrete

China pledged 5,000 AI training slots, weather systems in 30 nations, and application centers across six regional blocs.

China's promises at WAICO go beyond slogans. Xi announced a five-year slate of commitments: 5,000 AI training and seminar opportunities for developing countries, international AI application centers with ASEAN, the Arab League, the African Union, CELAC, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and BRICS, and deployment of China's "Mazu" AI meteorological warning system in 30 nations. Xi argues the US already did the damage — it withheld advanced chips and models from developing countries, first as fallout from US-China competition, then as deliberate policy. WAICO offers Chinese open-source models instead — including Kimi K3, a 2.8-trillion-parameter model launched this week, built without US chips.

Xi showed up himself. He had never personally attended WAIC before today. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was also at the founding ceremony — praising China's open-source development while warning that AI "risks destabilizing global security, widening wealth gaps." Days before the launch, Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis called on the US to establish a new AI standards body. WAICO launched anyway — his call came too late.

The Developing World Just Wants the Technology, Though

Global South members came for AI infrastructure — 5,000 training slots and a weather system matter more than which bloc built them.

The developing world wants AI infrastructure. Kazakhstan's Minister for AI and Digital Development Zhaslan Madiyev put it directly at the signing: WAICO moves the focus "from declarations to practical collaboration." Cambodia's PM Hun Manet asked for "broader access to advanced models and computing power" — a request about resources, not a geopolitical statement. Thailand's Deputy PM Anutin Charnvirakul welcomed China's intelligence-sharing platforms because they work. Kazakhstan itself signed both Pax Silica and WAICO, which suggests dual alignment is an option, not a contradiction.

Most of these countries will hedge. Analyst Leon Liao argues they'll adopt US chips and Chinese AI models simultaneously, rather than committing to one bloc. He says WAICO's real test is whether it delivers usable infrastructure — not whether its founding principles beat Pax Silica's on paper. If the 5,000 training slots materialize and Mazu reliably predicts storms, the governance-model debate becomes secondary to the countries that joined.

Where This Lands

Washington says China built WAICO to lock in its governance norms across the Global South before those countries have a real alternative — and the absence of every major Western democracy from the founding membership is the tell. Beijing says the US locked those countries out first with export controls, and WAICO fills the gap they created. The 29 nations that signed up did not settle that argument. They came for the technology.

Sources