International community urged to unify on striking a balance in the advancement of Artificial Intelligence
China Announces New International AI Cooperation Organization
At the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, Premier Li Qiang unveiled the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO), a Chinese-led body aimed at fostering global, inclusive, and multilateral AI development [1][2]. The organization is tentatively headquartered in Shanghai.
The main goals of WAICO are to strengthen global AI governance, respond to the needs of the Global South, promote AI as an international public good, facilitate collaboration on AI innovation, and establish broadly agreed global governance frameworks, standards, and norms [1][2][3].
To achieve these goals, WAICO plans to build a multilateral platform for practical cooperation and innovation, implement initiatives like the U.N. resolution on AI capacity building, and promote coordination across national strategies, governance rules, and technical standards [3]. The organization also aims to support international exchanges and collaboration through mechanisms such as a cross-border open-source community [4].
The WAICO's focus on addressing inequalities between developed and developing regions and promoting AI as a force for common good worldwide sets it apart from the U.S.'s aggressive low-regulation strategy aimed at cementing U.S. dominance in AI [5]. George Chen, a partner at Washington-based policy consultancy The Asia Group, noted that Li's speech "posed a clear contrast to the Trump administration's 'America First' view on AI."
The U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated that AI governance would be "a defining test of international cooperation," and Anne Bouverot, French president's AI envoy, underscored "an urgent need" for global action and for the U.N. to play a "leading role" in AI governance [6]. However, the U.S. and the U.K. refused to sign the summit's appeal for an "open," "inclusive" and "ethical" AI, warning against "excessive regulation" [7].
Premier Li expressed willingness to share AI advances with other countries, particularly developing ones, and emphasized the need for governance and open-source development [8]. Chen also mentioned that the world is now divided into at least three camps: the United States and its allies, China, and the EU, which prefers regulating AI through legislation [9].
The AI technology advancements have moved to the forefront of the U.S.-China rivalry, with China's Premier Li Qiang cautioned about the security risks of artificial intelligence development [10]. Nobel Prize-winning physicist Geoffrey Hinton compared the AI situation to keeping a potentially dangerous animal as a pet [11]. Bouverot called for a framework "that is open, transparent and effective, giving each and everyone an opportunity to have their views taken into account."
References:
[1] China unveils AI body to counter US dominance
[2] China announces new AI body to rival US
[3] China's AI ambitions: The World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization
[4] China's AI ambitions: The World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization
[5] China unveils AI body to counter US dominance
[6] China unveils AI body to counter US dominance
[7] China unveils AI body to counter US dominance
[8] China unveils AI body to counter US dominance
[9] China unveils AI body to counter US dominance
[10] China unveils AI body to counter US dominance
[11] Nobel laureate warns AI is like a 'dangerous animal'
- Europe, through its preference for regulating AI through legislation, forms one of the three main camps affecting global AI policy and legislation, alongside the United States and its allies, and China.
- As AI technology advancements have become a central aspect of global politics, China advocates for AI governance as a defining test of international cooperation.
- The World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO), a Chinese-led body, aims to establish broadly agreed global governance frameworks for AI, including facilitating collaboration on AI innovation and promoting AI as an international public good.
- The U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Anne Bouverot, French president's AI envoy, have both underscored the urgent need for global action and a transparent framework for AI governance, emphasizing its importance in shaping the technology's development and later implications on the world.