Pax Silica: US Tells 35 Nations to Pick Sides in Global AI Race
In August 2026, a draft letter from the U.S. State Department is being prepared for 35 nations — and the message is clear: you're either with us or against us, and you can't be both.
Three Key Facts
What is Pax Silica: Launched in December 2025, the U.S.-led AI coalition aims to bind the AI supply chain — semiconductors, AI models, and critical minerals — to the U.S. and allied ecosystem. As of now, roughly 24 countries have joined, including Japan, Australia, and South Korea. But Kazakhstan has joined both the U.S. and Chinese frameworks, which infuriated Washington.
China's counterweight: In July 2026, China established the "World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization," promoting open-weight technology to challenge U.S. influence. Two AI governance frameworks are splitting — Pax Silica's "choose a side" model versus China's "open cooperation" narrative. A global standards war has moved from the market layer to the diplomatic layer.
The letter's essence: The State Department's draft tells countries they must "choose deliberately" on AI cooperation — and "cannot be pursued alongside membership in duplicative initiatives whose expectations conflict with our own." China isn't named, but the target is obvious. The underlying shift: global AI governance is sliding from "cooperation" toward "zero-sum."
WangDou's Take
Here's the irony: Silicon Valley spent decades selling "global connectivity." Now it's doing the exact opposite — "connect the world" has become "build the wall."
Pax Silica smells like Cold War "spheres of influence" logic — except instead of nukes, they're squeezing GPUs. When a superpower feels it has to send letters forcing countries to pick sides, it's really saying it believes the technology gap can still be held. But reality check: while H20 chip export controls tighten, DeepSeek and Kimi 3 arrived anyway — human creativity isn't something you can regulate with a checklist.
The sharper contrast: 24 countries locked in via "commitments" under Pax Silica; China runs a "World AI Cooperation Organization" pushing open source. One closes, one opens — which message plays better in the Global South? "Open" is a much friendlier word than "choose your side."
Source: Strait Times / Japan Times