The US is preparing to tell dozens of countries they must pick sides in the artificial intelligence (AI) race with China, warning they would be excluded from a US-led AI coalition if they also sign up for Beijing’s competing framework, according to a US official and an internal draft reviewed by Reuters.
Washington last year launched the Pax Silica initiative aimed at securing supply chains for AI models, semiconductors and critical minerals, amid a fierce technology rivalry with Beijing. About two dozen countries have joined, including Kazakhstan, a key potential source of critical minerals that has also joined China’s coalition, as well as close US allies such as Japan, Australia and South Korea.
The draft letter, prepared by the US Department of State, is addressed to the 35 signatories of a US “AI Opportunity Statement” signed in June, which includes members of the nonbinding Pax Silica framework and other countries that have expressed a desire to align cooperation on AI with Washington.
Photo: AFP
By pressing countries to choose sides the US hopes to starve China of resources in a race to make the most sophisticated AI, which could be used for military or economic dominance.
Last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) launched the “World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization,” promoting his country’s open-weight technology as a challenge to US influence over the fast-moving sector. Kazakhstan is the only country so far known to have joined both initiatives, setting off alarm bells in Washington.
“To be part of everything is to be part of nothing. Signature of the Pax Silica Declaration is not merely a membership subscription, but a commitment,” the letter says, urging countries to “choose deliberately” on AI.
“It cannot be held alongside membership in duplicative initiatives whose expectations conflict with our own,” the letter said, without specifically mentioning China.
The draft was undated. The State Department said it would not comment on “purportedly leaked internal documents.”
The Chinese embassy in Washington said the country opposes politicizing trade and technology issues.
“Such actions will only stifle global AI advances and serve no one’s interests,” an embassy spokesperson said.
The Kazakh embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.
The Pax Silica agreement aims to push US allies and partners toward joint projects and export controls, and ultimately reduce reliance on adversaries for critical minerals, AI models and the semiconductor chips that power them.
The race between the US and China for technological leadership has reached a pivotal moment, as Chinese open-weight AI models have made rapid gains against proprietary systems from US companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic PBC. The exponential growth of the technology’s capabilities, including the ability to hack autonomously, has forced a global reckoning over its power.
Beijing is weighing restrictions on overseas access to some of China’s leading AI models, highlighting the growing tension with its stringent national security agenda.
The US touted Kazakhstan in June as the first country in Central Asia to join Pax Silica, bringing significant reserves of critical minerals that fuel advanced technologies.
China has used its near-monopolies over critical minerals as a retaliatory weapon in a tariff war launched last year by US President Donald Trump, who has ramped up US efforts to source the minerals domestically and from allies.
Members of Pax Silica have access to shared investment opportunities in AI-related projects, while those who sign the AI Opportunity Statement have symbolically agreed on a “common purpose” and “shared vision” with the US, according to the statement posted on the State Department’s Web site.
US officials drafted the letter to make clear that “you can’t have it both ways,” the US official said, speaking on condition of anonymity given ongoing internal discussions on the issue.
“It’s difficult to see how a country can credibly position themselves as trusted partners in one technology ecosystem while simultaneously signing up for an initiative designed by China to advance a competing vision for AI,” the official said.
E.Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控) is to formally merge with Mercuries Life Insurance Co (三商美邦人壽) on Sept. 1, creating Taiwan’s fifth-largest listed financial holding company by assets and paving the way for capital injections totaling NT$22 billion (US$683.91 million) to shore up the insurer’s finances, top executives said yesterday. “The first priority after the merger will be to bring the insurer back to health through capital injections,” E.Sun Financial chairman Joseph Huang (黃男州) told a news conference in Taipei ahead of a company earnings call. E.Sun would inject NT$16 billion into Mercuries Life next month, followed by another NT$6 billion next year,
WELL MATCHED: The joint venture would lower Sony’s spending burden to stay relevant in chips, while TSMC secures steady revenue, said an analyst, calling it ‘virtually risk-free’ Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Sony Group Corp are in talks to spend a combined ￥1 trillion (US$6.3 billion) on their planned image sensor factory in Japan, a person familiar with the matter said. The companies are seeking to begin production in 2029, the person said, asking not to be named because the talks are private. No time frame was given for the investment under discussion, they said. TSMC and the Japanese company’s chip arm, Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corp, are eyeing demand for artificial intelligence (AI)-wielding robots and self-driving vehicles, which are expected to require more sensors to
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said its board of directors has approved investment of ￥282 billion (US$1.77 billion) to form a joint venture with Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corp to develop and manufacture next-generation image sensors for smartphones in Japan. The joint venture, Advanced Vision Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp, would be sited in Koshi City, Kumamoto Prefecture, TSMC said in a statement. It should commence volume production in 2029, TSMC said. Sony Semiconductor would invest ￥465 billion in the joint venture through a combination of cash and assets, the statement said. These capital contributions are expected to be made in phases based
China’s humanoid robot makers commanded more than 97 percent of global shipments in the first half of this year, according to new industry data affirming the country’s early lead against US rivals in the burgeoning field. Global humanoid robot shipments totaled about 19,100 units in the first half of this year, more than triple the 5,100 units shipped in the same period last year, data from Smart Analytics Global showed. The California-based research firm said it expects shipments to rise to around 60,000 units this year and reach 500,000 by 2030. Agibot Innovation (Shanghai) Technology Co (智元創新) overtook Hangzhou-based Unitree
RSS