US Draft Letter Pushes Allies to Pick AI Camp Over China
The United States is drafting a letter urging partner countries to choose sides in the escalating AI rivalry with China, according to a Reuters report cited by the-decoder.com. A State Department draft reviewed by Reuters reportedly warns that “to be part of everything is to be part of nothing,” signaling that nations joining China’s AI initiative would be excluded from Washington’s competing coalition.
The US-led effort, known as Pax Silica, was launched last year to secure supply chains for AI models, semiconductors, and critical minerals. Roughly two dozen countries have joined, along with the European Union. Kazakhstan is currently the only known member of both the US and Chinese frameworks, a position tied to its substantial reserves of critical minerals used in high-tech and AI supply chains.
China’s rival effort, the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, was launched by President Xi Jinping in July. It promotes China’s open-weight AI models as an alternative to systems built by US firms such as OpenAI and Anthropic.
China’s embassy in Washington has pushed back against the reported US plans, arguing that forcing countries to choose sides would slow global AI progress and serve no one’s interests, the-decoder.com reported.
The dispute underscores how AI development has become entangled with broader geopolitical competition over technology standards, resource access, and international alliances. If enacted, the US approach could pressure smaller and resource-rich nations to formally align with one bloc, potentially reshaping global supply chains for semiconductors and critical minerals essential to AI infrastructure.
Neither the State Department nor Chinese officials have confirmed further details beyond the statements cited in Reuters’ reporting, as relayed by the-decoder.com.
Based on reporting by the-decoder.com.
