SHANGHAI — Twenty-nine countries put pen to paper here on July 16. They formed the World AI Cooperation Organization. China drove the effort from the start.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi signed for Beijing. Representatives from nations including Kazakhstan, Laos, Pakistan, Russia and Indonesia joined him. UN Secretary-General António Guterres stood with the signatories for photos. The ceremony unfolded just before the annual World AI Conference. President Xi Jinping planned to address that gathering in person for the first time.
The new body will make its home in Shanghai. Its stated goals sound straightforward. Promote international cooperation. Advance global governance in artificial intelligence. Make sure the technology proves beneficial, safe and fair. Push its development in healthy and orderly ways for all humanity. Those aims come straight from the agreement, as reported by Global Times.
But the launch carries heavier weight. It marks a concrete step in Beijing’s bid to shape rules for a technology that could define economic power and national security for decades. China first floated the idea in July 2025. Premier Li Qiang unveiled it alongside a 13-point Global AI Governance Action Plan during the previous conference. That plan called for multilateral work on safety, compute infrastructure, data centers, networks, data standards and sustainable growth. Details on how WAICO will operate stayed thin at the time.
Beijing’s Strategy Takes Shape
Now the organization exists on paper. Analysts see it as a vehicle for building consensus among like-minded states. Then carrying those views into United Nations debates. The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace laid out this logic months before the signing. “It is likely that China will use it to build a preliminary consensus on AI governance issues and subsequently leverage this consensus to coordinate positions at the United Nations,” the May 2026 analysis stated. (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace).
China has spent years expanding technical ties with developing countries. It set up the China-BRICS AI Development & Cooperation Centre in Shanghai’s Xuhui district in January 2025. A China-Laos AI Innovation Cooperation Center followed. These efforts focus on building infrastructure and training talent. WAICO will probably widen that network. Workshops and seminars have already introduced governance ideas alongside the hardware. Yet control stays with Chinese firms. Models often embed content filters aligned with Beijing’s views.
The founding members tell their own story. Russia, Belarus, Cuba, Venezuela and Brazil joined. So did Pakistan, Indonesia, multiple African states and others across Asia. Their combined GDP pales next to the United States or Europe. Still, the group covers a wide stretch of the Global South. Many of these governments worry about falling behind in AI. They welcome partners who talk less about strict rules and more about access and capacity.
Contrast that with Western efforts. The European Union passed its AI Act. The Group of Seven runs parallel talks. Washington, especially under President Donald Trump, stresses winning the race. It pushes American chips, models and standards. Vice President JD Vance told a Paris summit in early 2025 that safety concerns hindered progress. A White House advisor in New Delhi spoke of making the world adopt the “American AI stack” from semiconductors upward.
Beijing takes the opposite tack in public. It offers low-cost, open-source models as a public good. These tools, Chinese officials argue, can shrink the gap between rich and poor nations. At a recent UN AI dialogue, the two sides laid out rival visions. The U.S. warned that heavy regulation would kill innovation. China framed its approach as equitable development.
Few major American tech companies showed up at this year’s Shanghai conference. Preparations continue for the first formal U.S.-China AI talks of the Trump era. The rivalry feels structural. One side bets on tight controls and state guidance. The other bets on speed, private enterprise and selective multilateralism.
Yet the Carnegie report cautions against simple binaries. Developing countries rarely endorse any single vision wholesale. They pick and choose. Some buy Chinese hardware. Others attend seminars. A few engage with EU or U.S. programs too. “While many countries in the Global South are willing to consider China’s state-centric and public order–oriented vision of AI, they also see value in governing AI through liberal norms and human rights safeguards,” the analysis noted.
So WAICO enters a crowded field. The UN remains the main channel, according to China’s own plan. Beijing co-chaired a 2024 General Assembly resolution linking AI, sustainable development and national sovereignty. A Group of Friends on AI capacity-building now includes 80 countries and UN entities. WAICO could feed ideas into those talks. Or it could evolve into a parallel track that amplifies voices from the Global South.
Practical questions linger. How will decisions get made? Who pays? What enforcement power, if any, will the body hold? The agreement avoids those specifics for now. It stresses consultation, joint contribution and a people-centered approach. It upholds the UN Charter. Those phrases leave room for interpretation.
Xi’s speech at the conference offered clues. He pitched China as a leader in a new global AI order. The message mixed openness with sovereignty. Access for all. But rules that respect each nation’s choices on content and security. That framing appeals to governments wary of Western lectures on values.
Recent coverage captured the moment. Reuters described the signing as the formal launch of a body long proposed but until now without members. An Asian diplomat told the wire service that China has gained ground in Southeast Asia through capacity-building programs. It positions itself as advocate for those left behind.
Implications Stretch Beyond Diplomacy
The stakes run high. AI already influences everything from weapons to welfare systems. Compute power, data flows and model weights have become strategic assets. Nations without strong domestic industries risk dependence. WAICO promises to reduce that risk through shared standards and collaboration. But shared on whose terms?
China’s domestic AI push adds muscle. Companies there release ever-larger open models. Moonshot AI just unveiled what it called the world’s largest open AI model, closing ground on U.S. rivals. Such advances give Beijing concrete offerings to pair with its governance pitch.
Critics see a bid to dilute stricter rules. Supporters call it necessary pluralism. Either way, the pact shifts the conversation. No longer just bilateral U.S.-China tension or EU regulation. Now a formal organization backed by dozens of states sits at the table.
Its success will depend on delivery. Can WAICO actually help members build data centers, train engineers and agree on safety tests? Or will it remain a talking shop that mainly amplifies Chinese positions?
Early signs point to serious intent. The timing with the conference. The presence of Guterres. Xi’s personal involvement. These moves suggest Beijing aims to turn proposal into platform.
Industry insiders watch closely. Tech executives from aligned countries may gain easier access to Chinese markets and talent pools. Those from the West face higher barriers. Standards set here could influence procurement in much of Africa and Asia. Interoperability, if achieved, might favor certain architectures.
And the broader geopolitical contest continues. Washington tries to restrict advanced chips to China. Beijing invests heavily in self-reliance. Both court the middle powers that signed this agreement. Those nations now hold cards in a game that rewards flexibility.
One thing looks clear. The era of ad hoc AI diplomacy has ended. Institutions have arrived. WAICO represents one vision for them. Others will compete. The coming years will test which approach delivers results that governments and citizens actually want. Faster innovation. Fewer accidents. Broader prosperity. Or something else entirely.
But for now the ink has dried. A new body exists. Its headquarters will rise in Shanghai. And the work of turning ambition into action begins.
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