World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization
International organization founded by China
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The World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO) is an international organization that focused on artificial intelligence (AI) established in July 2026. Proposed by China prior to its 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference, it is headquartered in Shanghai and oriented toward the Global South.
World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization 世界人工智能合作组织 | |
|---|---|
Member states of the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization | |
| Headquarters | Shanghai, China |
| Type | Intergovernmental organisation |
| Membership | 29 (July 2026) |
| Establishment | July 16, 2026 |
The organization is viewed as rivalling the US-led Pax Silica initiative, which aims to counter China's influence in the global supply chains for rare-earth elements, semiconductors, and AI.[1]
History
The World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization was first proposed by Chinese Premier Li Qiang in July 2025.[2][3] Chinese leader Xi Jinping reiterated the same proposal at the 33rd meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in October 2025.[4]
On 16 July 2026, 29 countries signed the agreement on the creation of the WAICO. The signing ceremony happened on the eve of the annual World Artificial Intelligence Conference.[5] United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres attended the signing ceremony.[6] Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi signed the agreement on behalf of the Chinese government.[7] The organization is viewed as rivalling the US-led Pax Silica initiative, which aims to counter China's influence in the global supply chains for rare-earth elements, semiconductors, and AI.[1]
The agreement establishes WAICO as a China-led intergovernmental organization, with a design that analysts have described as open to all sovereign states and oriented toward development and the Global South. China's rhetoric has favored the development of open-source artificial intelligence.[8][9][10] China's open models, such as from DeepSeek, Kimi and Z.ai, have gained usage among US companies from below 10% of tokens in mid-2025 to around 40% of tokens in mid-2026.[11]
Member states
The countries which signed the agreement include:[12]
Algeria
Belarus
Brazil
Cambodia
Cameroon
China
Congo
Cuba
Ethiopia
Indonesia
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Lesotho
Malaysia
Mozambique
Myanmar
Nicaragua
Oman
Pakistan
Russia
Senegal
Serbia
South Africa
Tajikistan
Uzbekistan
Venezuela
Zambia
Reactions
Arindrajit Basu, writing for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, suggested that the PRC government might intend to use WAICO to expand the country's network of AI cooperation centers or to shape AI policy discussions at the United Nations.[13]
Elizabeth Gibney, writing in Nature in 2025, speculated that WAICO will likely not govern the AI industry in an enforceable way.[4]
Heru Sutadi, in an interview with Majalah ICT, argued that the global AI ecosystem remains highly concentrated. AI model development, computing capacity, GPUs, AI factories, cloud computing, and large-scale data infrastructure are still dominated by a small number of global technology companies. According to Sutadi, this concentration risks creating a new form of digital divide—an "AI divide"—in which countries in the Global South become merely users of AI technologies without equal opportunities to develop domestic AI capabilities. He stated:[14]
WAICO must be more than just an international organization discussing AI developments. It must be a platform that champions the interests of the Global South so that it is not left further behind in the artificial intelligence revolution. AI must be a technology that empowers all countries, not just strengthens the dominance of a handful of global technology companies.