US to tell partners to pick side in AI race

The US is preparing to ‌tell dozens of countries they must pick sides in the artificial intelligence race with China, warning they will be excluded from a US-led AI coalition if they also sign up for Beijing’s competing framework, reports Reuters citing a leaked internal memo.

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 State Department, is addressed to the 35 signatories of a US “AI ⁠Opportunity Statement” signed in June, which includes members of the non-binding Pax Silica framework and other countries that have expressed a desire to align cooperation on AI with Washington. In July, ​Chinese President Xi Jinping launched a rival “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.