China has pulled out artificial intelligence (AI) as a new diplomatic card. As the United States keeps China in check by controlling advanced semiconductors and AI technology, Beijing is moving to support AI technology and talent development for developing countries and to build a separate framework for international AI cooperation. Some analysts say that if the country once expanded its influence by prioritizing infrastructure through the Belt and Road, it is now seeking to use AI as a new diplomatic asset to extend its global reach.
On the 23rd (local time), the Financial Times (FT) said Chinese President Xi Jinping made the expansion of international AI cooperation a key task at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) held in Shanghai last week. At the event, China announced the launch of the World AI Cooperation Organization (WAICO), with 29 countries participating, including Brazil, Russia, Indonesia and South Africa, and unveiled plans to establish an international AI application cooperation center and to train AI talent in developing countries.
The backdrop to China putting AI cooperation at the forefront on the international stage is a strategy to secure developing countries as new partners as its technology competition with the United States drags on. The United States is limiting China's AI competitiveness through export controls on advanced semiconductors and restrictions on cutting-edge AI technology. In response, China is targeting countries with weak AI infrastructure by leveraging lower-expense open-source AI models and government support.
FT analyzed that China is trying to use AI not merely to secure industrial competitiveness but as a diplomatic asset. Just as it expanded its influence in the past by building physical infrastructure such as railways, ports and power plants through the Belt and Road, it now aims to establish long-term partnerships by providing AI models, computing technology and education programs.
China plans to expand AI application cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the African Union (AU), the League of Arab States (LAS) and BRICS, and to run AI education and training programs over the next five years for talent in developing countries. Through this, it aims not only to increase the use of Chinese AI technology and expand developing countries' AI capabilities but also to broaden its influence in discussions on international AI governance.
In particular, as the center of gravity in AI competition shifts beyond technology development to a race over international AI norms and standards, China is expected to continue its push to grow its clout in those discussions on the back of AI diplomacy. The industry views China as taking a different approach from the United States in AI as well. While the United States focuses on restricting access to advanced technology, China seeks to strengthen cooperation with developing countries through a strategy of improving access to AI technology and expanding international cooperation.
George Chen, co-head of the digital institutional sector at Asia Group, said, "WAICO is likely to become a very good platform to distribute Chinese technology and open-source AI models to developing countries. It's effectively offering a very good 'Plan B' to developing countries," and added, "What China ultimately wants is to make the majority of the world rely on Chinese technology rather than U.S. technology." Kevin Xu, founder of Interconnected Capital, projected that a market structure similar to the competition between Android and Apple's iOS will form, with China's open-source AI models and the United States' closed AI models.