China launches WAICO to shape global AI rules

Chinese President Xi Jinping used the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai to call for international cooperation on AI and warn against any single country dominating the technology. Xi promoted open-source AI as a historic opportunity and said China would keep working with countries across Africa, Latin America and Asia to expand access and avoid new inequalities.

China’s new World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation (WAICO) was formally formed on July 16 and is headquartered in Shanghai. The inter-governmental group has 29 founding countries, including Indonesia, Brazil, Malaysia, South Africa, Senegal, Russia and Pakistan, and is intended to promote cooperation and develop regulation that keeps AI beneficial and safe for humans.

The initiative comes as China and the US compete for tech and AI leadership, including over semiconductors, data centres, rare earth minerals and export controls. Analysts say Beijing is likely to use WAICO to influence how AI policy is framed at the UN, with support from Global South partners giving China more weight in global standards-setting.