What is WAICO? China's AI organization — 29 signatories, no G7 members
WAICO (World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization) is a China-led international AI body created on July 16, 2026, when 29 countries signed its founding agreement in Shanghai. Members include Russia, Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia and Pakistan; no G7 country joined. It is positioned against Pax Silica, the US-led semiconductor and AI supply-chain coalition
The three lines
- Definition — founded in Shanghai on July 16, 2026; first treaty-based AI governance body
- Members — 29 signatories incl. Russia, Brazil, Indonesia, Pakistan; no G7
- Rivalry — competes with US-led Pax Silica; Kazakhstan in both; South Korea not listed
Key questions
- waico member countries
- **29 countries signed; lists differ slightly by outlet.** | Group | Countries | |---|---| | Widely reported | China, Russia, Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Laos | | Some reports | Cambodia, Myanmar, Belarus, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Serbia | | G7 | None | | South Korea | Not listed |
- waico vs pax silica
- **WAICO is a China-led AI governance body; Pax Silica is a US-led supply-chain coalition.** | | WAICO | Pax Silica | |---|---|---| | Leader | China | United States | | Form | Treaty-based intergovernmental body | Coalition of allies and partners | | Focus | AI governance and adoption | Chips, compute, critical tech supply chains | | Tech base | Chinese compute and open models | Trusted vendors, US technology |
- world ai cooperation organization headquarters
- **Shanghai.** | Item | Detail | |---|---| | Founded | July 16, 2026 | | Place | Shanghai (eve of the World AI Conference) | | Headquarters | Shanghai | | Budget and voting rules | Not yet defined |
AI now has blocs, and one of them is called WAICO. The World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization was launched on July 16, 2026, when 29 countries signed its founding agreement in Shanghai, on the eve of the annual World Artificial Intelligence Conference. China leads it. Analysts describe it as the first treaty-based intergovernmental body whose primary mandate is AI governance.
On the other side is Pax Silica, a US-led coalition. As pressure to pick a side grows, the WAICO name is back in the news in October.
1. What WAICO does
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name | World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization |
| Founded | July 16, 2026, Shanghai |
| Signatories | 29 countries |
| Headquarters | Shanghai |
| Leader | China |
| Form | Treaty-based intergovernmental organization |
| Stated aims | Inclusion and capacity-building — helping developing countries adopt AI |
| Expected agenda | Technical standards, data governance, data localization, infrastructure procurement |
| Undefined | Funding, voting rules, leadership selection, project pipeline |
China pitches WAICO as AI for everyone. Many analysts expect it to become a channel for countries to adopt AI through Chinese compute infrastructure and open-weight models. The founding agreement, though, is thin: how money is raised and decisions are made is still blank.
2. Who's in, and how it differs from Pax Silica
| Group | Countries |
|---|---|
| Widely reported | China, Russia, Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Laos |
| Some reports | Cambodia, Myanmar, Belarus, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Serbia |
| Regional mix (some analyses) | Around 10 African and 12 Asian states |
| G7 | None |
| South Korea | Not listed |
| WAICO | Pax Silica | |
|---|---|---|
| Leader | China | United States |
| Form | Treaty-based body | Coalition of about two dozen partners |
| Focus | AI governance and adoption | Security of chip, compute and critical-tech supply chains |
| Tech base | Chinese compute, cooling, power gear, open models | Trusted vendors, US-origin tech |
| Typical roles | — | Dutch tools, Japanese chemicals, Korean memory, US chip design |
| What's at stake | Access to Chinese infrastructure | Access to advanced chips and frontier models |
Some countries straddle both. Kazakhstan has joined each. Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar are WAICO founders while keeping security ties with the US, and Singapore wants to stay interoperable with both.
3. Why "choosing sides" became an issue
The US tiers advanced-chip exports by country and has restricted access to frontier models, so joining Pax Silica increasingly decides whether a country gets the latest chips and models. In August, the State Department reportedly sent a letter to the 35 signatories of June's "AI Opportunity Statement" warning them off the rival bloc — covered in "Pax Silica letter: the US tells 35 countries to pick one AI camp."
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| June 2026 | 35-country AI Opportunity Statement |
| July 16, 2026 | WAICO founded (Shanghai, 29 countries) |
| August 2026 | US letter pressing 35 countries to choose (reported) |
| October 20, 2026 | DHS order removing DeepSeek from federal agencies made public |
| October 25, 2026 | AP reports on pressure to pick sides (via summaries) |
Chinese AI firms are scaling up too: DeepSeek raised about $15 billion two days after the US federal ban became public (see today's "DeepSeek raises about $15 billion"). For defense and intelligence uses in WAICO-aligned countries, China's 2017 National Intelligence Law is often cited as a concern.
4. What remains unconfirmed
- Official roster: No official full list found; reports say 29 or 28.
- Institutional design: Budget, voting and projects must be set before its real influence is clear.
- South Korea: Not on WAICO lists; its formal Pax Silica status could not be confirmed.
Sources
- Norton Rose Fulbright — Two visions: WAICO, Pax Silica and the future of AI supply chains in the Asia-Pacific
- The Diplomat — China's New AI Club: The World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (2026-07)
- The Diplomat — China's World AI Cooperation Organization Agenda (2026-08)
- Daily Sabah — WAICO confronts Pax Silica: Why AI states won't choose sides