Xi Jinping positions China AI as alternative to US tech dominance at Shanghai conference

Xi Jinping spearheads China's AI push

President Xi Jinping has opened China's flagship artificial intelligence conference as he seeks to turn the country's rapidly advancing AI capabilities into geopolitical power. Xi is presiding over the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, a day after China and nearly 30 countries including Russia, Brazil and Indonesia signed up to a new organisation to be based in the Chinese financial capital. The body, to be known as the World AI Cooperation Organization, will give China influence over international standard-setting and other issues as its AI models increasingly compete with their US rivals for global influence. The move comes as China is increasingly adding artificial intelligence to its suite of diplomatic offerings to other countries, especially developing nations from the so-called global South that it is seeking to draw closer into its economic orbit. In a meeting on Thursday with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who is visiting Shanghai for the AI Conference, Xi said: "China is willing to share digital economy and artificial intelligence technologies to help Kazakhstan achieve digital transformation." A commentary published in state newspaper People's Daily this week said that "the risks and challenges brought about by AI are becoming increasingly prominent, making the need for strengthened governance more urgent than ever". World AI Cooperation Organisation members will be hoping that by aligning with China, they can receive some of the benefits of its growing technological prowess, analysts said. "Indonesia also expected that its participation in WAICO would boost investments in the high-technology industry sector to help Indonesia transform its economy," said Indonesia's state-owned Antara news agency ahead of the signing. China's challenge to US global leadership on AI comes as its start-ups are releasing increasingly powerful state of the art models, narrowing the gap between the two countries. Chinese AI start-up Moonshot, for example, has released a large language model with capabilities approaching those of frontier US labs, such as Anthropic. Western companies from the US to Europe are also switching to cheaper Chinese models. DoorDash, Siemens and Airbnb are among the groups that have adopted AI tools built in China, drawn by models that are cheaper, increasingly capable and, in some cases, easier to run on their own infrastructure. The shift has been driven largely by cost but in Europe, the Trump administration's move last month to impose export controls on Anthropic's Mythos and Fable models forced businesses to confront the risks of depending on US technology.

China's Xi to outline AI diplomacy vision at key Shanghai forum

BEIJING, July 16 (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to outline an ambitious vision for China's role in global AI governance at a forum on Friday, as Huawei showcases its most advanced AI computing cluster yet in a sign of Beijing's drive to build a domestic alternative to U.S. technology. Xi's attendance at the annual World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) for the first time underscores Beijing's view of AI as both a driver of economic growth and a strategic technology in global competition. Huawei's Atlas 950 SuperPoD large-scale AI computing system will make its public debut during the July 17 to 20 forum in Shanghai. The launch is one of the clearest demonstrations yet of China's efforts to assemble such systems without U.S. giant Nvidia's (NVDA.O), opens new tab most advanced chips. Designed for large-scale AI training and inference, the system links thousands of Huawei's Ascend AI processors through high-speed ⁠interconnects so they operate as a single computing cluster. DeepSeek's latest V4 model has been adapted to run entirely on clusters built using Huawei's Ascend chips, highlighting progress by Chinese firms in building AI ecosystems independent of U.S. technology. Domestic media reported that Chinese chipmakers including Biren and MetaX would also release new "supernode" computing clusters. AI GOVERNANCE The gathering comes as Washington and Beijing prepare for their first government-level AI talks under U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, turning WAIC from a technology showcase into an early test of how China intends to compete for influence over the rules governing AI worldwide. The two rivals set out competing visions for AI governance at a UN AI dialogue last week, where Washington argued that sweeping regulation would stifle tech breakthroughs and Beijing framed its low-cost, open-source AI models as a public good that would bridge global AI inequality. "Against this backdrop, WAIC has become more than a technology showcase; it is now a geopolitical stage where Beijing seeks to articulate its vision of AI ⁠as both a national priority and a diplomatic instrument," wrote George Chen, chair of digital practice at the Asia Group. In a January speech, Xi compared AI to an "epoch-making, major technological transformation following the steam engine," and Beijing has explicitly bet future growth on diffusing AI throughout its economy and achieving self-sufficiency in frontier technologies. China proposed the creation of a World AI Cooperation Organisation (WAICO) at last year's conference but no countries have formally announced membership. The conference coincides with a High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance in Shanghai, where progress on WAICO ⁠and implementing the Global AI Governance Initiative are expected to be announced. OPEN-SOURCE PROMOTION Beijing is also expected to promote China's open-source AI models as a low-cost alternative to Western offerings, arguing they can broaden access to the technology. "The development of AI must never move toward a technological monopoly that walls itself in, but should always be anchored to the fundamental goal of ⁠serving humanity," read a People's Daily commentary this week. Besides Chinese tech industry heavyweights, international leaders including UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul will attend WAIC. Nine Turing Award and Nobel laureates, including deep learning pioneers Yoshua Bengio and Richard Sutton, will also attend, but there is little representation ⁠from major U.S. tech firms. "China has been making inroads with Southeast Asian countries in terms of AI capacity-building, and portrays itself as speaking up for developing countries who are being left behind in the AI race," an Asian diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Other product launches expected at the forum include AI agent smartphones from ZTE-owned Nubia and AI startup StepFun, according to Chinese media. Reporting by Laurie Chen; Editing by Miyoung Kim and Stephen Coates Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab * Suggested Topics: * Artificial Intelligence Laurie Chen Thomson Reuters Laurie Chen is a China Correspondent at Reuters in Beijing, whose coverage focuses on the nexus of frontier technology, strategic emerging industries and geopolitics. She has reported on China for almost a decade, having previously covered China's government, defence, security and foreign policy. She has broken multiple global scoops on U.S.-China relations and the trade war 2.0, elite Chinese politics and diplomacy. She is particularly interested in Chinese frontier AI, tech and industrial policy, semiconductor supply chains, robotics, aerospace and grand strategy.

Xi pitches China as AI partner to developing world, warns against risks and security overreach

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday positioned China as a partner in artificial intelligence to the Global South, saying that countries should come together to build AI and help developing countries as well. Speaking at the World AI Conference in Shanghai, Xi announced that China will provide developing countries with 5,000 opportunities in AI training and seminar programs, as well as develop AI cooperation with various blocs, including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the League of Arab States and the African Union. "China is willing to work with all parties to seize and address the opportunities and challenges of artificial intelligence development with a more open attitude, more pragmatic actions, and a longer-term vision,," according to a Google translation of his speech in Mandarin. Xi said that AI development should not be a "solo performance" by a single country, but a "symphony of international cooperation" and China was "ready to be more open, take more practical actions, and assume a more visionary perspective." Xi's remarks came a day after 29 countries signed an agreement in Shanghai to establish the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, or WAICO, which will be headquartered in the city, according to Chinese state media outlet Xinhua. Xi also urged to strengthen risk awareness, and ensure that AI was "secure and controllable," and was "always remains under human control," adding that countries should oppose "overstretching the national security concept in the field of AI, or placing one country's security over that of others." While the Chinese president did not name a specific country, the U.S. has implemented various export controls measures aimed at curbing China's access to high-end tech. The U.S. began tightening restrictions during President Donald Trump's first term, including placing Huawei on the Commerce Department's Entity List in 2019. The Biden administration later introduced export controls in 2022 to restrict China's ability to buy advanced computing chips and manufacture advanced semiconductors, citing national security risks. Chip giant Nvidia has seen its market share in China plummet, saying in its annual report that it was unable to create and deliver a competitive product for China's data center market that is approved by both Beijing and Washington. "As of the end of fiscal year 2026, we were effectively foreclosed from competing in China's data center computing/compute market, and our effective foreclosure from the China market helped our competitors build larger developer and customer ecosystems to challenge us worldwide," it added.

China's Xi calls for step up of global effort in AI, as US curbs squeeze China's tech access

SHANGHAI (AP) -- Development and governance of artificial intelligence should be a global effort, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Friday, while reiterating China's objections to what he called the "overstretching" of national security concerns. Speaking at a conference in Shanghai, Xi said AI should not be dominated by any single nation. American-led restrictions have blocked China from accessing some of the world's most advanced technologies, spurring China's efforts to build its own know-how and intensifying the tech race between the world's two biggest economies. "The development of artificial intelligence should not be a solo performance by any single country but rather a symphony of global cooperation," Xi said at China's annual World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai. Others attending included the leaders of Kazakhstan, Cambodia and Thailand and U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres. "We should together oppose the practice of overstretching the concept of national security in the field of artificial intelligence, and of placing one's own security above that of other countries," he said, repeating a longstanding Chinese complaint. Over the next five years, he said China will provide 5,000 training opportunities on artificial intelligence to developing countries. China will expand AI cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the League of Arab States, the African Union, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the BRICS countries, Xi said. He promised to provide access for 30 countries to a Chinese-developed AI meteorological system that provides early warning systems. A day earlier, 29 countries including Pakistan, Russia and Kazakhstan signed an agreement with China to establish a World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization. State media described it as an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Shanghai promoting global AI governance. More than 1,100 companies and 1,400 guests are participating in the annual AI conference this year, state media said. During the conference, tech giant Huawei will be showcasing its powerful AI computing system, the Atlas 950 SuperPoD,. Some technology analysts now believe China has become an innovator in AI and is no longer just catching up with the U.S. China's five-year plan until 2030 has prioritized progress in frontiers of science and technology including AI. China's open-source AI models, like DeepSeek, have been seen as appealing and often times more affordable alternatives globally to U.S. AI models, which are largely closed-source, and especially across the developing world. ____ Chan reported from Hong Kong. Associated Press writer Ken Moritsugu contributed from Beijing.

China Rewrites the 'Soft Power' Playbook for the A.I. Age

China is seeking global influence and good will with its open, low-cost artificial intelligence software. In the Cold War era, "soft power" meant American movies and music that won hearts and minds abroad. Today, in the digital era, China is touting a very different kind of soft power: its open, low-cost artificial intelligence technology. In a speech last week, China's leader Xi Jinping described so-called open-source A.I. as key to China's ambitions to shape the global development of the technology. Mr. Xi hailed open-sourcing, in which much of the software can be freely shared and modified, as a "rare and historical opportunity" to spread the technology's benefits worldwide. Mr. Xi made clear that China will champion the open path as an alternative to relying on U.S. tech giants, whose A.I. software is typically closed and more costly. "A.I. development should not be a solo performance by a single country," Mr. Xi said, "but a symphony of global collaboration." The Chinese call for a new A.I. order comes amid a mounting battle for global dominance between the leading American companies and fast-moving Chinese rivals. U.S. companies like OpenAI, Anthropic and Google hold their technology close, arguing that guarding the underlying code ensures greater security and control of powerful A.I. systems. Chinese companies like DeepSeek, Moonshot AI, Z.ai and Alibaba have championed open-source A.I. They contend that those systems cost less, will accelerate global adoption and are no less secure. Promoting open-source artificial intelligence "serves China's twin goals of bolstering its image as an inclusive A.I. leader and reducing global reliance on American A.I.," said Kyle Chan, a fellow at the Brookings Institution who is a China technology policy expert. As the Chinese companies rapidly close the gap in A.I. performance, the country's rivalry with the United States has become more hostile. American companies have accused some Chinese competitors of improperly harvesting data from their systems to aid their own technology's development. Last month, Anthropic sent a letter to two U.S. senators accusing the Chinese tech giant Alibaba of "brazenly" and "illicitly" trying to copy its technology using 24,000 fraudulent accounts. Alibaba has denied any wrongdoing. The Trump administration is taking such allegations seriously. On Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent threatened to impose sanctions on Chinese A.I. companies. "We support open-source A.I. and the innovation it unlocks," Mr. Bessent posted on X. "But open source is not open season on American IP," referring to intellectual property. U.S. tech executives and investors also worry that the Chinese open-source technology could change the economics of A.I. production. Their models are more efficient, eating up less computing power. That innovation is driven partly by necessity because U.S. trade restrictions have limited access to the most advanced A.I. chips from Nvidia. If the Chinese A.I. alternatives are nearly as good and less expensive -- estimates range from 50 percent to 90 percent for some tasks -- they could threaten the business plans and sky-high valuations of the American A.I. leaders. And the Chinese technology is increasingly being embraced by engineers and companies in the United States, seeking to trim costs. The China strategy is "to capture market share across the world, even if it doesn't translate into profits right away," said Wendy Chang, a senior analyst at the Mercator Institute for China Studies, a think tank. Proponents of the open approach point to Linux, an open-source software operating system, as a reason for optimism. The software runs most of the computers in internet data centers and has benefited from many people poring over the code and making fixes. Still, computer experts agree that A.I. is a more nuanced case. There is more than code involved, notably the data used for training a model. And A.I. models form judgments and can reason. There are also security concerns. Some security experts insist that the open-source approach of releasing both software and the numerical settings for training A.I. models, known as weights, greatly increase the risk of the technology being used for cyberattacks or even to help build bioweapons. And the heavy influence of the Chinese government on its companies raises potential data protection and security concerns. But the closed models of the Silicon Valley companies have had their own security glitches. This week, OpenAI disclosed that a model it was testing went rogue and attacked the computer systems of another company. The targeted company, Hugging Face, said it deployed a Chinese open-source model from Z.ai to analyze data and counter the attack. Now, China has outlined a plan to leverage its open source advantage as a diplomatic tool. The concept of open-source A.I. software as an instrument of soft power has been popularized in technology circles. It suggests influence through persuasion and desire -- something people want -- rather than the coercive "hard power" of military might and economic muscle. The open path offers a low-cost on-ramp to A.I. for software engineers and for nations seeking to catch the next wave of technology. "Those who benefit from free A.I. software certainly recognize it," said Lawrence Lessig, a professor at Harvard Law School and a technology policy expert. "From a political perspective, it's an enormous gain for China." China, an authoritarian power, often uses the language of openness in outreach overseas, especially to the developing world. And in recent years, it has used A.I. in those efforts, setting up joint A.I. development and education centers in dozens of nations. This year, China established the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization to shape A.I. governance principles and to promote A.I. adoption and training in China-friendly countries. In his speech, Mr. Xi pledged further investments. That included 5,000 A.I. training and seminar programs for students and workers in developing countries over the next five years, as well as new or enlarged A.I. initiatives in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. On the same day as Mr. Xi's speech, the People's Daily, the Communist Party's official newspaper, published an article on China's A.I. investments abroad with a litany of training and joint-development programs. Its self-congratulatory conclusion: "China is helping countries around the world, particularly those in the Global South, strengthen their capabilities, winning broad international recognition and support." Xinyun Wu and Alan Rappeport contributed reporting.

China's Xi Jinping Wants AI to Be Open to the World -- and Out of America's Control

On Friday, Chinese President Xi Jinping had his first in-person appearance at his country's biggest artificial intelligence event, the annual World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai. In his long-awaited debut speech, Xi called for more open-source AI and cooperation across borders, taking a stance squarely opposite to his American counterpart, the tariff-loving President Donald Trump. "We often say in China, 'A single string cannot make music, and a single tree does not make a forest,'" Xi told the crowd in Shanghai, per China Daily. "AI development should not be a solo performance by a single country, but a symphony of international cooperation." Xi has reason to say this. China and the United States have been locked in a contest for global AI industry domination. With frontier American labs like OpenAI and Anthropic and the industry's number one chip supplier, Nvidia, the United States has the lead for now. But Chinese companies are quickly bridging that gap, providing open models that can outperform some of American Big Tech's closed offerings. The shocking performance upgrades in some of these models have caused the Trump administration to take a stricter stance on AI trade with China, much to the dismay of chip giant Nvidia, which used to count China as one of its largest markets. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has advocated for the normalization of trade ties between the two superpowers, arguing that the wide prevalence of American technology abroad, particularly in China, would mean that their AI industry would be entirely dependent on American technology, ensuring American hegemony. At Nvidia's first GTC to be held in Washington, D.C. late last year, Huang warned the politicians in the crowd that this dynamic can be switched at any time. With China's renewed focus on open-source AI, Silicon Valley's complete retreat from the Chinese market would make the U.S. "ill-prepared" for when Chinese software "permeates the world." Huang's plea for American dominance in China seems to be Xi's game plan for Chinese dominance globally. Though for now, Xi's framing of Chinese dominance is all about no one dominating anyone else. "We should seize this rare, historic opportunity to encourage open source, openness, collaboration, and sharing," Xi said. "As a responsible major country, China is always committed to providing international public goods relating to AI." China is not just calling for global solidarity, but is basing AI cooperation on Chinese terms. At last year's World AI Conference, Chinese government officials proposed the formation of a global AI cooperation organization headquartered in Shanghai. At this year's conference, Beijing officially announced the new coalition, the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, and said that it had 29 member nations, including some heavy-hitters like Brazil and Russia. This emphasis on open cooperation and joint research kills two birds with one stone: it furthers the development of AI within China, and it ensures global AI development is guided by Chinese principles and under China's wings, positioning the country as the industry leader globally. Especially by investing in Global South economies where the AI landscape is just developing, China is looking to establish control early on in AI industries around the world. Also on Friday, Xi committed to providing developing countries with 5,000 opportunities in AI training programs over the next five years and to developing international AI application cooperation centers across the Global South. "This is a major move by China to answer the call of the Global South and unite the international community together to promote vigorous AI development and governance," Xi said on Friday. "It will be an important milestone in the history of AI development." Although Xi praises "true multilateralism" with all countries, reports suggest Beijing sings a different tune behind the scenes when it comes to the United States. According to Reuters, Chinese officials have met with top labs in the country to discuss limiting overseas access to open-source and proprietary models. Chinese authorities also recently forced Meta to dismantle its acquisition of Chinese AI startup Manus and suspend all data-sharing. Chinese AI developers are also increasingly switching from Nvidia to local silicon providers at the encouragement of the Chinese government. So, this Chinese vision of global AI cooperation might not necessarily include the United States, even if the Trump administration were to walk back its hard-line trade stance. On Friday, Xi also made pleas for AI safety and took a more pro-regulatory stance, highlighting yet another way he wants Beijing to differ from Washington under Trump, while also taking a rather apparent jab at his Administration's national security policy decisions. Last month, Trump barred Anthropic from sharing Mythos -- its latest model, which is said to have powerful hacking capabilities -- with foreign nationals inside or outside the United States. He has since partially lifted that ban, allowing the company to resume sharing the model with select companies and agencies. It's safe to assume that Chinese companies and agencies don't make that short list, considering that when Washington says "national security concerns" in the context of AI, they more often than not are referring to China. "We should put in place laws and regulations, technological monitoring, early warning, and emergency response systems in order to strengthen the line of security, prevent abuses and malicious use, and ensure that AI is always under human control," Xi said. "In the meantime, we should jointly oppose overstretching the national security concept in the field of AI and placing one country's security over that of others."

Xi tells World AI Conference no single country should monopolise AI

The Chinese leader used his first keynote at the Shanghai summit to pitch open AI for the developing world, and to needle Washington without naming it. Xi Jinping told the World AI Conference in Shanghai on Friday that artificial intelligence "should not be a solo performance by a single country, but a symphony of international cooperation," casting Beijing as the patron of open, shared technology. The line, aimed at the developing world and, by implication, at Washington, set the tone for a speech heavy on governance and light on product. His appearance had been flagged for days, the first time a Chinese president has addressed the summit in person. It came a day after 29 governments signed a China-led cooperation body in the same city, with foreign minister Wang Yi putting his name to the agreement. Xi framed AI as a technology of "great opportunities and governance challenges," according to the official Xinhua readout, and pressed for what he called a people-centred approach. He warned that leaving poorer nations behind risked hardening the technology gap into "new historical injustices." The governance pitch doubled as a critique of US policy. "We should jointly oppose overstretching the national security concept in the field of AI or placing one country's security over that of others," Xi said, in remarks widely read as a swipe at American export controls. Those controls are the backdrop to almost everything China now says about AI. Washington has spent two years restricting Chinese access to the most advanced chips, and Beijing has answered by weighing curbs of its own on who abroad can tap its leading models. The timing is not incidental. China has narrowed the gap with American labs faster than many in Washington expected, and Xi arrived able to argue from something closer to parity than the summit's early editions could muster. The contrast Xi wanted was cooperation against containment. He promised capacity-building for partners across Africa, Latin America, Asia and the BRICS grouping, extending an earlier free-AI offer to the global south that undercuts the G7's more guarded posture. Safety still got its paragraph. Xi called for "laws and regulations, technological monitoring, early warning, and emergency response systems" to keep AI "always under human control," language that would not sound out of place at a Western summit. The difference lies less in the words than in who gets to write the rulebook. The new organisation is meant to give that rhetoric an address. Billed as an independent body promoting "beneficial, safe and fair" AI under UN Charter principles, it drew founding signatures from the likes of Russia, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Indonesia and Laos, and will be headquartered in Shanghai. Its stated remit is capacity-building rather than regulation, an offer of infrastructure, training and shared models to countries that have watched the AI boom mostly from the sidelines. That is the constituency Xi spent the speech addressing, and the one Beijing hopes will find its terms more generous than the West's. What went unspoken mattered too. Major US technology firms were largely absent from the halls, while Huawei used the occasion to unveil its Atlas 950 SuperPoD, a computing cluster built to run without Nvidia's top chips. The diplomacy carried a UN gloss. Secretary-General António Guterres attended the launch of the cooperation organisation, lending the developing-world framing a measure of multilateral cover that a purely Chinese initiative would struggle to claim on its own. For all the talk of symphony, the score is contested. Xi has likened AI's arrival to the steam engine, a revolution he says will run through the whole economy, and he plainly wants Beijing holding the baton when the global south decides whose standards to follow. A symphony, after all, still needs a conductor. Whether the World AI Cooperation Organization becomes a genuine rival to Western governance forums or a well-attended symbol is the question the next conference will answer. For now, China has the venue, the guest list and, on Friday, the keynote.

Xi Jinping of China Pitches 'Openness' in Push to Shape the Path of A.I.

Xi Jinping said that the development of artificial intelligence systems should be a "symphony of global collaboration." China's top leader on Friday laid out his nation's bid to shape the path of artificial intelligence, casting China as a champion of an open approach to the technology and a trusted ally of developing nations in advancing A.I. The remarks by Xi Jinping highlighted how China plans to compete for A.I. leadership with the United States, even if Mr. Xi never mentioned it by name. Speaking at an A.I. conference in Shanghai, Mr. Xi said that "A.I. development should not be a solo performance by a single country, but a symphony of global collaboration." He described open-source A.I. technology, in which much of the software can be freely shared and modified, as a "rare and historical opportunity" to spread the benefits of A.I. globally. The technology, he said, must be shared by developing nations or raise the threat of "new historical injustices." Mr. Xi's vision is assuredly one of national self-interest as well. China is generally regarded as trailing the United States in A.I., but it is catching up. That is particularly evident in the open-source software developed by China's leading A.I. software companies like DeepSeek, Moonshot and Zhipu. Their A.I. systems are closing the gap with the leading American A.I. chatbots and question-answering programs, including OpenAI's ChatGPT, Anthropic's Claude and Google's Gemini. The U.S. companies, who have spent many billions of dollars creating their frontier models, do not share their technology freely. They have also accused the Chinese of pilfering their technology. And China remains well behind in the most advanced A.I. chips, a market dominated by Nvidia. Mr. Xi's speech at the beginning of an A.I. conference in Shanghai came as China builds support for its World AI Cooperation Organization. The group was created a year ago, China said, partly to give developing nations a greater say in A.I. governance. In his address, Mr. Xi also said China planned to offer its A.I. technology and training to developing countries who are friendly to China. "We must uphold openness and win-win cooperation," he said. China's international outreach is meant to supplement its A.I. ambitions at home. Mr. Xi has exhorted his country to "occupy the commanding heights" of technology, with A.I. at the forefront. But A.I., depending on how far and fast it progresses, poses a dilemma for the ruling Communist Party. How should it manage the rise of a technology that could one day be so disruptive that it could threaten its interests -- and its grip on power? Chinese regulation of A.I. has varied in intensity over the years, depending on where the country assesses its strengths and weaknesses. When the Chinese government was worried it had fallen behind the United States in 2022, after the launch of ChatGPT, it took a more hands-off approach that ultimately allowed ventures like DeepSeek and others to thrive. Chinese regulation of A.I. has varied in intensity over the years, depending on where the country assesses its strengths and weaknesses. At the same time, researchers have documented efforts by the Chinese government to monitor and manipulate public opinion in Hong Kong and Taiwan using companies with expertise in A.I. And the Philippines on Friday condemned as racist an A.I.-generated video posted by a Chinese state-run news site that depicted the Southeast Asian country as a karaoke-singing monkey doing the bidding of the United States and Japan. Xinyun Wu contributed reporting from Taiwan, Taipei.

China's Xi calls for step up of global effort in AI, as US curbs squeeze China's tech access

SHANGHAI -- Development and governance of artificial intelligence should be a global effort, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Friday, while reiterating China's objections to what he called the "overstretching" of national security concerns. Speaking at a conference in Shanghai, Xi said AI should not be dominated by any single nation. American-led restrictions have blocked China from accessing some of the world's most advanced technologies, spurring China's efforts to build its own know-how and intensifying the tech race between the world's two biggest economies. "The development of artificial intelligence should not be a solo performance by any single country but rather a symphony of global cooperation," Xi said at China's annual World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai. Others attending included the leaders of Kazakhstan, Cambodia and Thailand and U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres. "We should together oppose the practice of overstretching the concept of national security in the field of artificial intelligence, and of placing one's own security above that of other countries," he said, repeating a longstanding Chinese complaint. Over the next five years, he said China will provide 5,000 training opportunities on artificial intelligence to developing countries. China will expand AI cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the League of Arab States, the African Union, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the BRICS countries, Xi said. He promised to provide access for 30 countries to a Chinese-developed AI meteorological system that provides early warning systems. A day earlier, 29 countries including Pakistan, Russia and Kazakhstan signed an agreement with China to establish a World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization. State media described it as an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Shanghai promoting global AI governance. More than 1,100 companies and 1,400 guests are participating in the annual AI conference this year, state media said. During the conference, tech giant Huawei will be showcasing its powerful AI computing system, the Atlas 950 SuperPoD,. Some technology analysts now believe China has become an innovator in AI and is no longer just catching up with the U.S. China's five-year plan until 2030 has prioritized progress in frontiers of science and technology including AI. China's open-source AI models, like DeepSeek, have been seen as appealing and often times more affordable alternatives globally to U.S. AI models, which are largely closed-source, and especially across the developing world.

Xi Jinping positions China as open-source AI leader at WAIC 2026

Chinese President Xi Jinping used the opening ceremony of the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on Friday to frame China as the leading advocate for open-source AI, pledging resources to developing nations and positioning Beijing as an alternative to Washington's approach to governing the technology. In a keynote address at the conference, known as WAIC, Xi called on countries to "encourage open source, openness, collaboration and sharing" and warned against any nation placing its own security interests above those of others -- language widely understood as a reference to U.S. export controls on advanced chips and AI technology. Xi did not name the United States. Xi announced that China will offer 5,000 spots in AI training and seminar programs to developing countries over the next five years, and pledged to build AI application cooperation centers alongside ASEAN, the Arab League, the African Union, BRICS, and other major regional blocs. He also said China will extend access to an AI-powered weather warning system to 30 countries. The speech came a day after 29 countries signed on to establish the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, or WAICO, which will be headquartered in Shanghai. Xi described the new organization as "a milestone in the history of world AI development," arguing that it answered calls from Global South countries that have long sought a larger voice in how AI is governed. According to Reuters, the speech amounted to Xi's clearest articulation yet of China's ambitions to shape global AI governance, framing its open-source models as a public good and offering a counterweight to Washington's influence over the sector. The WAICO initiative is a rival to the U.S.-led "Pax Silica" initiative, which has signed up 35 countries, compared with 29 for WAICO. A person familiar with the U.S. position said that Kazakhstan is the sole country appearing on both membership lists, contending that the minimal overlap indicates most nations in Washington's coalition have declined to back Beijing's rival initiative. Xi also addressed AI safety, calling for human oversight of AI systems and urging countries to establish early-warning and emergency-response mechanisms -- his most extended remarks on the subject to date. The conference's backdrop reflects a shifting competitive landscape. Chinese open-weight AI models have been closing the performance gap with U.S. systems while undercutting them on price, and adoption of Chinese open-source models has spread across global developer communities. Beijing-based startup Moonshot AI unveiled a new open model, Kimi K3, at the conference on Friday. The momentum in open-source AI comes as Beijing weighs a potential countermove: officials have been meeting with Alibaba, ByteDance, and others to discuss possible restrictions on overseas access to China's most capable AI models, a tension Xi's speech did not address directly. The WAIC conference runs through July 20. Attendees include United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.

Xi offers AI olive branch to the world, calling for 'symphony of global cooperation' | Fortune

Development and governance of artificial intelligence should be a global effort, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Friday, while reiterating China's objections to what he called the "overstretching" of national security concerns. Speaking at a conference in Shanghai, Xi said AI should not be dominated by any single nation. American-led restrictions have blocked China from accessing some of the world's most advanced technologies, spurring China's efforts to build its own know-how and intensifying the rivalry between the world's two biggest economies. "The development of artificial intelligence should not be a solo performance by any single country but rather a symphony of global cooperation," Xi said at the opening of China's annual World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai. Others attending included the leaders of Kazakhstan, Cambodia and Thailand and U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres. Xi opposes the 'overstretching' of national security in AI "We should together oppose the practice of overstretching the concept of national security in the field of artificial intelligence, and of placing one's own security above that of other countries," he said, repeating a longstanding Chinese complaint. China will expand AI cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the League of Arab States, the African Union, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the BRICS countries, Xi said. He promised to provide access for 30 countries to a Chinese-developed AI meteorological tool that provides early warning systems. Over the next five years, Xi said China will provide 5,000 AI training opportunities to developing countries. Closer partnerships can help prevent "historical injustice in AI," he said. China's new AI cooperation body seen as response to the U.S. Ahead of the conference, 29 countries including Pakistan, Russia and Kazakhstan signed an agreement with China to establish a World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization. State media described it as an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Shanghai promoting global AI governance. The new AI cooperation organization can be viewed as China's answer to the U.S.-led Pax Silica initiative, said George Chen, partner and chair of digital practice at Washington-headquartered consultancy The Asia Group. The Pax Silica framework, launched late last year, focuses on strengthening collaboration with U.S. allies and partners on AI-related supply chains. Signatories include Japan, the U.K., Australia, the Philippines, Israel and India. Following a visit by U.S. President Donald Trump's to Beijing to meet with Xi in mid-May, China and the United States also agreed to conduct a dialogue on AI development and governance. Chen, who was at the conference in Shanghai, also said Xi's speech can be seen as a signal that China can be a reliable partner to the developing world, or "Global South" countries. "China will not let America be the monopoly of AI technology." China's advanced tech showcased as it steps up self-reliance More than 1,100 companies and 1,400 guests are participating in the annual AI conference this year, Chinese state media said. During the conference that runs until Monday, tech giant Huawei is showcasing its powerful AI computing system, the Atlas 950 SuperPoD. Some technology analysts now believe China has become an innovator in AI and is no longer just catching up with the U.S. China's five-year plan until 2030 has prioritized progress in frontiers of science and technology including AI. China's open-source AI models, like DeepSeek, are seen, especially across the developing world, as appealing and often more affordable than U.S. AI models, which are largely closed-source. Coinciding with the conference, the Chinese AI startup Moonshot released its latest AI model, Kimi K3. It said Kimi K3's 2.8 trillion parameters -- one of the measurements of an AI model's capability -- will make it the world's largest open-source model. DeepSeek's V4 Pro version has 1.6 trillion parameters. Last month, another Chinese AI company Zhipu, or Z.ai, rolled out its new flagship GLM-5.2 open-source model in a challenge to U.S. rivals including Anthropic's models. But U.S. politicians and several major U.S. AI companies including Anthropic have accused Chinese AI models of illicit "distillation" of their models to extract their technologies, a claim that Beijing says is "groundless." U.S. policymakers have also raised concerns over Chinese AI posing an economic threat to the United States. ____ Chan reported from Hong Kong. Associated Press writer Ken Moritsugu contributed from Beijing.

Xi urges united global AI push as US bans squeeze China's tech access

As US restrictions continue to limit China's access to advanced technology, Xi Jinping used a major summit to rally developing nations around Beijing's vision for AI. China's President Xi Jinping used a major AI summit on Friday to push back against US technology restrictions, calling for artificial intelligence to be developed and governed as a global effort rather than dominated by any single country. Speaking in Shanghai, Xi warned against what he called the "overstretching" of national security concerns -- a pointed reference to American-led curbs that have cut China off from some of the world's most advanced chips and AI technology. "The development of artificial intelligence should not be a solo performance by any single country but rather a symphony of global cooperation," he said. The remarks came at China's annual World Artificial Intelligence Conference, attended by the leaders of Kazakhstan, Cambodia and Thailand, as well as UN Secretary-General António Guterres. Xi announced that China would offer 5,000 AI training opportunities to developing nations over the next five years and give 30 countries access to a Chinese-built meteorological AI system with early-warning capabilities. The day before, 29 countries, including Russia, Pakistan and Kazakhstan, signed an agreement with China to set up a new intergovernmental body, the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation, to be based in Shanghai. Tech giant Huawei is also at the conference, showing off its Atlas 950 SuperPoD AI computing system. The flurry of announcements reflects how seriously Beijing is competing for AI influence, particularly in the developing world where China believes it has a competitive advantage over Western companies. Chinese open-source models such as DeepSeek have already gained ground globally as cheaper alternatives to US offerings.

China's Xi urges global cooperation on AI, warns against single-country dominance

Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Friday artificial intelligence should not be dominated by any single country, calling for greater international cooperation on AI development and governance at a major conference in Shanghai. His remarks come as Chinese AI firms challenge US rivals and concerns grow over AI's military, cyber and terrorist misuse. Artificial intelligence should not be dominated by a single country, China's President Xi Jinping said Friday, urging international cooperation on its development at a major conference in Shanghai. Chinese AI models are catching up to the most powerful US offerings, while attracting global users with lower costs. But how to govern the booming sector has become a key topic, as concerns over the deployment of AI in military combat, or its use by hackers and terrorists grow. "AI development should not be a solo performance by a single country, but a symphony of international cooperation," Xi said at the opening of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference. "We should jointly oppose overstretching the national security concept in the field of AI or placing one country's security over that of others," Xi added. The United States and European Union have imposed restrictons on Chinese tech imports, citing national security concerns, while recent tussles between Washington and American AI labs have raised questions on who controls access to top technology. The WAIC conference is "the most important annual event for understanding the direction of China's AI industry", said Poe Zhao of analysis publication Hello China Tech. "The United States retains a clear lead in advanced chips, frontier computing infrastructure and the most capital-intensive model development," Zhao told AFP. But "China is its closest and most comprehensive competitor". Read moreEU orders Google to share search data and open Android system to AI rivals 'Under human control' The four-day WAIC draws more than 1,000 of China's tech firms together with officials, researchers and industry figures. Around 3,000 products are on display, from powerful semiconductor systems for AI computing to a smartphone that can autonomously operate apps. But eyes were first on Xi's vision of how the world should handle the potential impact of AI on cybersecurity and conflict, as well as on jobs and the world economy. "We should put in place laws and regulations, technological monitoring, early warning, and emergency response systems, in order to... ensure AI is always under human control," Xi told the conference, calling for a "people-centric" approach. On Thursday, foreign minister Wang Yi and representatives from 29 countries including Russia, Pakistan and Indonesia signed an agreement establishing an intergovernmental AI cooperation group. The World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, headquartered in Shanghai, aims to promote consultation and collaboration between members to ensure the "healthy and orderly" development of AI, state media reported. Leaders including UN chief Antonio Guterres, Cambodia's Hun Manet and Thailand's Anutin Charnvirakul are attending WAIC, which lays out the cutting edge of Chinese tech. Early on Friday, the Beijing-based startup Moonshot AI released a powerful new flagship model, Kimi K3, whose performance could reportedly rival some of the best, if not top, US offerings. Read morePublishers sue Google over alleged use of books to train AI models Mega AI consumption Other highlights at this year's WAIC are MiniMax's M3 model, the first mass-produced phone equipped with an autonomous AI agent, and Huawei's Atlas 950 "supernode", an AI architecture for learning and reasoning. "The main theme will be the transition from AI models to systems that can be deployed at scale" in everyday life, said Hello China Tech's Zhao. AI agents -- tools capable of conversing with users, managing software or performing complex tasks -- are also taking centre stage. AI has become a strategic pillar of China's industrial policy, driven by state investment aimed at building a domestic ecosystem, from chip production to consumer use. Daily consumption in China of "tokens" -- the industry unit of AI usage -- has increased a thousandfold over the past two years, according to state media citing officials. The Chinese market was valued at 1.2 trillion yuan in 2025 ($177 billion), and is expected to grow more than 30 percent this year, according to official data. China has more patent filings for generative AI than any other country, according to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), which recorded more than 43,000 such filings between 2024-25. A growing number of companies abroad -- like Siemens this year -- are adopting Chinese open-source AI models, attracted by their performance, lower cost and ability to customise, in contrast to the closed systems of US giants such as OpenAI and Anthropic.

Xi challenges US with push to lead new global AI order

Tokyo | President Xi Jinping has declared China will lead the creation of a new global artificial intelligence order, unveiling an ambitious diplomatic push to position Beijing - rather than Washington - at the centre of the technology's future governance. The address, at the opening of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on Friday, was delivered just moments after US President Donald Trump accused China of interfering in the US elections. Trump said he would declassify sensitive information that showed China had illicitly acquired 220 million US voter files.

China's Xi says AI should not be dominated by one country

Shanghai (AFP) - Artificial intelligence should not be dominated by a single country, China's President Xi Jinping said Friday, urging international cooperation on its development at a major conference in Shanghai. Chinese AI models are catching up to the most powerful US offerings, while attracting global users with lower costs. But how to govern the booming sector has become a key topic, as concerns over the deployment of AI in military combat, or its use by hackers and terrorists grow. "AI development should not be a solo performance by a single country, but a symphony of international cooperation," Xi said at the opening of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference. "We should jointly oppose overstretching the national security concept in the field of AI or placing one country's security over that of others," Xi added. The United States and European Union have imposed restrictons on Chinese tech imports, citing national security concerns, while recent tussles between Washington and American AI labs have raised questions on who controls access to top technology. The WAIC conference is "the most important annual event for understanding the direction of China's AI industry", said Poe Zhao of analysis publication Hello China Tech. "The United States retains a clear lead in advanced chips, frontier computing infrastructure and the most capital-intensive model development," Zhao told AFP. But "China is its closest and most comprehensive competitor". 'Under human control' The four-day WAIC draws more than 1,000 of China's tech firms together with officials, researchers and industry figures. Around 3,000 products are on display, from powerful semiconductor systems for AI computing to a smartphone that can autonomously operate apps. But eyes were first on Xi's vision of how the world should handle the potential impact of AI on cybersecurity and conflict, as well as on jobs and the world economy. "We should put in place laws and regulations, technological monitoring, early warning, and emergency response systems, in order to... ensure AI is always under human control," Xi told the conference, calling for a "people-centric" approach. On Thursday, foreign minister Wang Yi and representatives from 29 countries including Russia, Pakistan and Indonesia signed an agreement establishing an intergovernmental AI cooperation group. The World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, headquartered in Shanghai, aims to promote consultation and collaboration between members to ensure the "healthy and orderly" development of AI, state media reported. Leaders including UN chief Antonio Guterres, Cambodia's Hun Manet and Thailand's Anutin Charnvirakul are attending WAIC, which lays out the cutting edge of Chinese tech. Early on Friday, the Beijing-based startup Moonshot AI released a powerful new flagship model, Kimi K3, whose performance could reportedly rival some of the best, if not top, US offerings. Mega AI consumption Other highlights at this year's WAIC are MiniMax's M3 model, the first mass-produced phone equipped with an autonomous AI agent, and Huawei's Atlas 950 "supernode", an AI architecture for learning and reasoning. "The main theme will be the transition from AI models to systems that can be deployed at scale" in everyday life, said Hello China Tech's Zhao. AI agents -- tools capable of conversing with users, managing software or performing complex tasks -- are also taking centre stage. AI has become a strategic pillar of China's industrial policy, driven by state investment aimed at building a domestic ecosystem, from chip production to consumer use. Daily consumption in China of "tokens" -- the industry unit of AI usage -- has increased a thousandfold over the past two years, according to state media citing officials. The Chinese market was valued at 1.2 trillion yuan in 2025 ($177 billion), and is expected to grow more than 30 percent this year, according to official data. China has more patent filings for generative AI than any other country, according to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), which recorded more than 43,000 such filings between 2024-25. A growing number of companies abroad -- like Siemens this year -- are adopting Chinese open-source AI models, attracted by their performance, lower cost and ability to customise, in contrast to the closed systems of US giants such as OpenAI and Anthropic.

China's Xi calls for more global efforts to guide AI, chides US for its curbs on tech sharing

SHANGHAI (AP) -- Development and governance of artificial intelligence should be a global effort, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Friday, while reiterating China's objections to what he called the "overstretching" of national security concerns. Speaking at a conference in Shanghai, Xi said AI should not be dominated by any single nation. American-led restrictions have blocked China from accessing some of the world's most advanced technologies, spurring China's efforts to build its own know-how and intensifying the rivalry between the world's two biggest economies. "The development of artificial intelligence should not be a solo performance by any single country but rather a symphony of global cooperation," Xi said at the opening of China's annual World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai. Others attending included the leaders of Kazakhstan, Cambodia and Thailand and U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres. Xi opposes the 'overstretching' of national security in AI "We should together oppose the practice of overstretching the concept of national security in the field of artificial intelligence, and of placing one's own security above that of other countries," he said, repeating a longstanding Chinese complaint. China will expand AI cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the League of Arab States, the African Union, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the BRICS countries, Xi said. He promised to provide access for 30 countries to a Chinese-developed AI meteorological tool that provides early warning systems. Over the next five years, Xi said China will provide 5,000 AI training opportunities to developing countries. Closer partnerships can help prevent "historical injustice in AI," he said. China's new AI cooperation body seen as response to the U.S. Ahead of the conference, 29 countries including Pakistan, Russia and Kazakhstan signed an agreement with China to establish a World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization. State media described it as an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Shanghai promoting global AI governance. The new AI cooperation organization can be viewed as China's answer to the U.S.-led Pax Silica initiative, said George Chen, partner and chair of digital practice at Washington-headquartered consultancy The Asia Group. The Pax Silica framework, launched late last year, focuses on strengthening collaboration with U.S. allies and partners on AI-related supply chains. Signatories include Japan, the U.K., Australia, the Philippines, Israel and India. Following a visit by President Trump's to Beijing to meet with Xi in mid-May, China and the United States also agreed to conduct a dialogue on AI development and governance. Chen, who was at the conference in Shanghai, also said Xi's speech can be seen as a signal that China can be a reliable partner to the developing world, or "Global South" countries. "China will not let America be the monopoly of AI technology." China's advanced tech showcased as it steps up self-reliance More than 1,100 companies and 1,400 guests are participating in the annual AI conference this year, Chinese state media said. During the conference that runs until Monday, tech giant Huawei is showcasing its powerful AI computing system, the Atlas 950 SuperPoD. Some technology analysts now believe China has become an innovator in AI and is no longer just catching up with the U.S. China's five-year plan until 2030 has prioritized progress in frontiers of science and technology including AI. China's open-source AI models, like DeepSeek, are seen, especially across the developing world, as appealing and often more affordable than U.S. AI models, which are largely closed-source. Coinciding with the conference, the Chinese AI startup Moonshot released its latest AI model, Kimi K3. It said Kimi K3's 2.8 trillion parameters -- one of the measurements of an AI model's capability -- will make it the world's largest open-source model. DeepSeek's V4 Pro version has 1.6 trillion parameters. Last month, another Chinese AI company Zhipu, or Z.ai, rolled out its new flagship GLM-5.2 open-source model in a challenge to U.S. rivals including Anthropic's models. But U.S. politicians and several major U.S. AI companies including Anthropic have accused Chinese AI models of illicit "distillation" of their models to extract their technologies, a claim that Beijing says is "groundless." U.S. policymakers have also raised concerns over Chinese AI posing an economic threat to the United States. ____ Chan reported from Hong Kong. Associated Press writer Ken Moritsugu contributed from Beijing.

China's Xi Calls for Step up of Global Effort in AI, as US Curbs Squeeze China's Tech Access

SHANGHAI (AP) -- Development and governance of artificial intelligence should be a global effort, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Friday, while reiterating China's objections to what he called the "overstretching" of national security concerns. Speaking at a conference in Shanghai, Xi said AI should not be dominated by any single nation. American-led restrictions have blocked China from accessing some of the world's most advanced technologies, spurring China's efforts to build its own know-how and intensifying the tech race between the world's two biggest economies. "The development of artificial intelligence should not be a solo performance by any single country but rather a symphony of global cooperation," Xi said at China's annual World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai. Others attending included the leaders of Kazakhstan, Cambodia and Thailand and U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres. "We should together oppose the practice of overstretching the concept of national security in the field of artificial intelligence, and of placing one's own security above that of other countries," he said, repeating a longstanding Chinese complaint. Over the next five years, he said China will provide 5,000 training opportunities on artificial intelligence to developing countries. China will expand AI cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the League of Arab States, the African Union, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the BRICS countries, Xi said. He promised to provide access for 30 countries to a Chinese-developed AI meteorological system that provides early warning systems. A day earlier, 29 countries including Pakistan, Russia and Kazakhstan signed an agreement with China to establish a World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization. State media described it as an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Shanghai promoting global AI governance. More than 1,100 companies and 1,400 guests are participating in the annual AI conference this year, state media said. During the conference, tech giant Huawei will be showcasing its powerful AI computing system, the Atlas 950 SuperPoD,. Some technology analysts now believe China has become an innovator in AI and is no longer just catching up with the U.S. China's five-year plan until 2030 has prioritized progress in frontiers of science and technology including AI. China's open-source AI models, like DeepSeek, have been seen as appealing and often times more affordable alternatives globally to U.S. AI models, which are largely closed-source, and especially across the developing world. ____ Chan reported from Hong Kong. Associated Press writer Ken Moritsugu contributed from Beijing.

AI should not be 'solo performance' but 'symphony of global collaboration': Xi Jinping

At WAIC 2026, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for global AI collaboration and announced support for 5,000 AI research projects in developing countries. China also launched the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation (WAICO) with 29 founding member nations. Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday said the development of AI should not be a "solo performance" by one country, but a "symphony of global collaboration". Xi made these remarks while addressing the opening of the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC), China's largest annual AI industry event, in Shanghai. "With AI advancing at a staggering speed, we must ensure its development is positive, for the good and for humanity," he said. "We human beings must answer the questions posed by our times: How to get along with thinking machines? How to ensure security when an algorithm is part of decision making? How to tackle ethical challenges by technologies through adaptive governance? How to realise AI for all when the divide keeps widening? These questions demand serious consideration and real answers from the whole international community," he said. China wants all countries to take a people-centric approach and develop AI. "We should ensure that AI is an important driver for shared prosperity and common security. We should join hands to build a just and equitable system for global AI governance," he said. To further support AI development in the next five years, he said China will provide developing countries, including members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Arab League, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the African Union, Latin American and the BRICS member countries with 5,000 research projects in AI, as well as training, seminar programmes and cooperation centres. Earlier, 29 countries signed an agreement in Shanghai to establish the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation (WAICO). The WAICO will be an independent intergovernmental international organisation headquartered in Shanghai, according to the agreement, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Representatives from the 29 countries, including Kazakhstan, Laos, Pakistan, Russia and Indonesia, besides China, signed the agreement, making their countries the WAICO's founding members. The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, was also among representatives from countries and international organisations present at the signing ceremony. The organisation will uphold the purposes of the UN Charter, be committed to extensive consultation and joint contribution for shared benefit and adhere to a people-centred approach, according to the agreement, Xinhua report said. In recent years, China has made big strides in several frontier technologies, artificial intelligence (AI), electric vehicles (EVs), and battery technology, aided by the massive state support, a huge domestic market, strong manufacturing capabilities, and a large pool of engineers. On the AI front, China has made it a national strategic priority, aiming to become the world's leading AI innovation centre with heavy investments from the government in research, computing infrastructure, semiconductor development, and talent cultivation. Also, China has emerged as the world's largest producer and exporter of electric vehicles as its EV industry has expanded dramatically over the past decade. Analysts say China's progress in AI, electric vehicles, and battery technology aims to shift away from a manufacturing hub to become a major technological innovator, even while facing stiff competition from the US, EU, South Korea and Japan, besides American export controls on advanced AI chips. PTI

Xi Jinping Rejects AI 'Solo Performance' by One Country as China's Kimi K3 Lands to Challenge OpenAI, Ant

Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke at the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) on Friday, highlighting the need for international cooperation in AI development. Xi voiced China's readiness to pursue greater openness and practical action in AI development. He stressed the importance of international cooperation, stating that AI development should not be a "solo performance" by a single country, but a "symphony of global collaboration," the South China Morning Post reported. Xi mentioned the newly established World AI Cooperation Organization, which comprises 29 countries, including Russia, Pakistan, and Indonesia. He also declared China's commitment to support AI development in developing countries over the next five years, with plans to offer 5,000 AI research projects, training, seminar programs, and "cooperation centers". The Chinese President emphasized the need for responsible AI development, guided by "human wisdom" and international consensus, as AI continues to evolve rapidly. Moonshot Challenges American AI Xi's participation in the WAIC, a key annual AI event in China, underscored the importance of AI in China's tech and geopolitical strategy. With stringent U.S. export controls on advanced semiconductors and limited access to top-tier AI models overseas, Beijing is accelerating its drive for tech autonomy. This also comes on the heels of Chinese start-up Moonshot AI launching Kimi K3, the world's largest open-source AI model, late Thursday. Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Image via Shutterstock Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.

China's AI ascendance gives Xi a stage and a security dilemma

The rise of China's AI models is handing President Xi Jinping new bragging rights and a stronger claim to shaping the technology's global rules, even as their growing power stirs security alarm in Washington and Beijing alike. Xi is expected to make his case in his debut at the World AI Conference in Shanghai starting Friday, an event that previously attracted Elon Musk and Jack Ma. He'll be addressing scores of tech and government leaders as Chinese models win over companies worldwide, with their share of U.S. firms' AI usage nearing record 60% on the popular marketplace OpenRouter. In what could be a preview of Xi's position, state media this week cast China's openness as the antidote to a world of walls. The Communist Party's flagship mouthpiece People's Daily warned against an "AI Iron Curtain," contrasting an "oil mindset" that hoards data and computing power with a "water" approach that treats AI as a public good for all, without naming any country.

Xi pitches China as leader of new global AI order, challenging US dominance

Chinese President Xi Jinping promoted open-source artificial intelligence at a major tech conference. He urged nations to embrace this technology and pledged support for developing countries. China aims to shape global AI governance and create new standards for the sector. This initiative positions Beijing as an alternative to US influence in AI development. The conference also addressed AI safety and the need for human control over systems. Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday cast Beijing as the champion of a new global AI order, using China's premier tech conference to promote open-source technology and challenge U.S. influence over the rules governing the fast-moving sector. In a speech to the opening ceremony of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, Xi urged countries to "seize the rare and historic opportunity" of open-source AI, and pledged to help developing nations build AI capabilities, warning against the emergence of "new historical injustices" from unequal access to the technology. The remarks amounted to Xi's clearest articulation yet of China's ambition to shape ⁠global AI ⁠governance, framing its open-source models as a global public good and positioning Beijing as an alternative to Washington at a pivotal moment in the race for technological leadership. Comparing AI's significance to the invention of the steam engine and electricity, Xi outlined a vision in which China shares AI technology and expertise with countries across the Global South, while leading global efforts to create standards governing the emerging technology. The speech pitched China's AI coalition as a rival to the U.S.-led "Pax Silica" international initiative to secure global AI and critical mineral supply chains, though Xi avoided naming Washington. His comments came as Chinese open-weight AI models are making rapid gains against proprietary systems from U.S. companies such ⁠as OpenAI and Anthropic. Beijing-based startup Moonshot AI on Friday unveiled Kimi K3, which it described as the world's largest open AI model by parameter count, a month after the U.S. government abruptly pulled Anthropic's frontier-class AI models due to security ⁠concerns. Xi also called for AI systems to remain under human control and urged countries to establish early-warning and emergency-response mechanisms to manage AI risks, in his clearest remarks to date on AI safety. He further urged measures to guard against loss-of-control scenarios, warning of the dangers posed by autonomous AI systems that could evade human oversight and control. China positioning to 'Lead the World' Xi said the China-created World AI Cooperation Organisation (WAICO), which signed up 29 member countries on Thursday, marked a "milestone in the history of world AI development" and responded to demands from Global South nations for greater participation in AI governance. China will also provide AI training and develop AI cooperation centres with BRICS, ASEAN, Latin American and African Union countries, Xi said, aligning China's AI diplomacy initiatives with major Global South blocs where China already carries huge influence. "Xi's message is clear: China is not going to follow anyone on both AI technology and standards. Instead, China is going to lead the world in both aspects," said George Chen, Chair in ⁠Digital Practice at The Asia Group, a consultancy. "Xi's message is a statement but can be also viewed as a warning - China will not let anyone tell China what to do with AI." The July 17-20 gathering comes as Washington and Beijing prepare for their first government-level AI talks under U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, elevating WAIC from an industry showcase into an early test of how China plans to compete for influence over the global rules governing AI. The two powers laid out competing visions at a U.N. AI dialogue last week, where U.S. officials argued excessive regulation could hinder innovation, while China promoted its low-cost, open-source models as a tool for reducing global disparities in access to AI. Alongside China's leading technology companies, attendees at WAIC include U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.

Chinese president calls for global governance effort over AI | BreakingNews

The development and governance of artificial intelligence (AI) should be a global effort, Chinese president Xi Jinping said, while reiterating China's objections to what he called the "overstretching" of national security concerns. Speaking at a conference in Shanghai, Mr Xi said AI should not be dominated by any single nation. American-led restrictions have blocked China from accessing some of the world's most advanced technologies, spurring China's efforts to build its own know-how and intensifying the tech race between the world's two biggest economies. "The development of artificial intelligence should not be a solo performance by any single country but rather a symphony of global cooperation," Mr Xi said at China's annual World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai. Others attending included the leaders of Kazakhstan, Cambodia and Thailand and UN Secretary-General António Guterres. "We should together oppose the practice of overstretching the concept of national security in the field of artificial intelligence, and of placing one's own security above that of other countries," the Chinese said, repeating a longstanding complaint from Beijing. Over the next five years, he said China will provide 5,000 training opportunities on artificial intelligence to developing countries. China will expand AI cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the League of Arab States, the African Union, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the BRICS countries, Mr Xi said. He promised to provide access for 30 countries to a Chinese-developed AI meteorological system that provides early warning systems. A day earlier, 29 countries including Pakistan, Russia and Kazakhstan signed an agreement with China to establish a World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation. State media described it as an intergovernmental organisation headquartered in Shanghai promoting global AI governance. More than 1,100 companies and 1,400 guests are participating in the annual AI conference this year, state media said. During the conference, tech giant Huawei will be showcasing its powerful AI computing system, the Atlas 950 SuperPoD. Some technology analysts now believe China has become an innovator in AI and is no longer just catching up with the US. China's five-year plan until 2030 has prioritised progress in frontiers of science and technology including AI. China's open-source AI models, like DeepSeek, have been seen as appealing and often times more affordable alternatives globally to US AI models, which are largely closed-source, and especially across the developing world.

Xi pitches China as leader of new global AI order, challenging US dominance

SHANGHAI, July 17 (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday cast Beijing as the champion of a new global AI order, using China's premier tech conference to promote open-source technology and challenge U.S. influence over the rules governing the fast-moving sector. In a speech to the opening ceremony of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, Xi urged countries to "seize the rare and historic opportunity" of open-source AI, and pledged to help developing nations build AI capabilities, warning against the emergence of "new historical injustices" from unequal access to the technology. The remarks amounted to Xi's clearest articulation yet of China's ambition to shape global AI governance, framing its open-source models as a global public good and positioning Beijing as an alternative to Washington at a pivotal moment in the race for technological leadership. Comparing AI's significance to the invention of the steam engine and electricity, Xi outlined a vision in which China shares AI technology and expertise with countries across the Global South, while leading global efforts to create standards governing the emerging technology. The speech pitched China's AI coalition as a rival to the U.S.-led "Pax Silica" international initiative to secure global AI and critical mineral supply chains, though Xi avoided naming Washington. His comments came as Chinese open-weight AI models are making rapid gains against proprietary systems from U.S. companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic. Beijing-based startup Moonshot AI on Friday unveiled Kimi K3, which it described as the world's largest open AI model by parameter count, a month after the U.S. government abruptly pulled Anthropic's frontier-class AI models due to security concerns. Xi also called for AI systems to remain under human control and urged countries to establish early-warning and emergency-response mechanisms to manage AI risks, in his clearest remarks to date on AI safety. He further urged measures to guard against loss-of-control scenarios, warning of the dangers posed by autonomous AI systems that could evade human oversight and control. CHINA POSITIONING TO 'LEAD THE WORLD' Xi said the China-created World AI Cooperation Organisation (WAICO), which signed up 29 member countries on Thursday, marked a "milestone in the history of world AI development" and responded to demands from Global South nations for greater participation in AI governance. China will also provide AI training and develop AI cooperation centres with BRICS, ASEAN, Latin American and African Union countries, Xi said, aligning China's AI diplomacy initiatives with major Global South blocs where China already carries huge influence. "Xi's message is clear: China is not going to follow anyone on both AI technology and standards. Instead, China is going to lead the world in both aspects," said George Chen, Chair in Digital Practice at The Asia Group, a consultancy. "Xi's message is a statement but can be also viewed as a warning -- China will not let anyone tell China what to do with AI." The July 17-20 gathering comes as Washington and Beijing prepare for their first government-level AI talks under U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, elevating WAIC from an industry showcase into an early test of how China plans to compete for influence over the global rules governing AI. The two powers laid out competing visions at a U.N. AI dialogue last week, where U.S. officials argued excessive regulation could hinder innovation, while China promoted its low-cost, open-source models as a tool for reducing global disparities in access to AI. Alongside China's leading technology companies, attendees at WAIC include U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul. (Reporting by Casey Hall in Shanghai; Editing by Christopher Cushing) By Laurie Chen and Casey Hall