AP: Countries caught between the US-led Pax Silica and China’s WAICO are trying to hedge between two AI blocs

An Associated Press analysis published October 25 looks at the two AI blocs led by the US and China. Pax Silica is the State Department’s flagship effort on AI and supply chain security. It launched in December 2025 with Japan, Israel, Australia, Singapore and South Korea signing its declaration. The department’s page now lists 25 signatories, including the European Union, with Paraguay the newest on October 23. China’s World AI Cooperation Organization (WAICO) was founded in Shanghai in July, when 29 countries signed on as founding members. According to CGTN, they include Kazakhstan, Laos, Pakistan, Russia and Indonesia.

Experts told AP that the window for countries to choose freely between the two is narrowing. Kazakhstan has joined both. Its AI minister, Zhaslan Madiyev, joined Pax Silica in Washington in June, then signed on as a WAICO founding member in Shanghai three weeks later. “Countries can’t be trusted partners in Pax Silica while substantively engaging in initiatives that advance a competing vision for super intelligence,” the State Department said. The Chinese embassy in Washington said the two countries “should leverage respective strengths in AI rather than guarding against each other,” adding that “AI should not be owned by major countries.”

AP points to other countries in the middle. Indonesia, a WAICO member, wants to benefit from both. Singapore, a Pax Silica signatory, says it is considering joining China’s organization. Saudi startup Humain launched a platform built on a Chinese open model while the kingdom also has a deal with Nvidia. Takahiro Tsuchiya of Kyoto University of Foreign Studies said Japan will not reject cheaper Chinese models for lower-risk uses. According to AidData, China has funded AI-related projects in at least 77 low- and middle-income countries.