00:00The artificial intelligence race is no longer just about who builds the smartest machine.
00:07Washington is now asking its allies a far more uncomfortable question.
00:11Are you with America or with China?
00:14The United States is reportedly preparing letters
00:17warning partner countries that joining a rival Chinese-backed AI framework
00:21could cost them access to an American-led technology alliance.
00:25The message is blunt. Pick a side.
00:28At the center of this confrontation is a U.S.-backed initiative called Pax Silica,
00:33designed to build secure supply chains for artificial intelligence,
00:37semiconductors, critical minerals, energy, and advanced manufacturing.
00:41But China has now created its own competing AI framework,
00:46and Washington is signaling that countries may no longer be allowed to sit comfortably in both camps.
00:51According to a Reuters report citing a U.S. official and an internal State Department draft,
00:57Washington is preparing letters for roughly 35 countries that signed a June 2026 AI statement.
01:04The warning centers on China's rival AI framework.
01:08The message reportedly says countries that participate in Beijing's initiative could be excluded from Pax Silica.
01:14That would represent a major shift.
01:17Until now, many countries have attempted to maintain relationships with both Washington and Beijing.
01:23But the United States appears increasingly determined to end that balancing act.
01:28Pax Silica was launched by the U.S. State Department in December 2025.
01:34Its goal is broader than artificial intelligence alone.
01:37The initiative focuses on securing supply chains involving AI models,
01:42semiconductors, critical minerals, energy, data centers, and advanced manufacturing.
01:47Roughly two dozen countries plus the European Union are now part of the initiative.
01:53Its members include major American partners such as Japan, Australia, South Korea, Britain, India, Israel, and Singapore.
02:01Other participants include Kazakhstan, Argentina, Chile, Germany, and the Netherlands.
02:07The strategy is straightforward.
02:10Build a trusted technology network that reduces dependence on countries Washington considers strategic competitors.
02:17And increasingly, that means reducing dependence on China.
02:21Beijing has responded.
02:23In July 2026, China established the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, or WICO, headquartered in Shanghai.
02:32Around 29 countries have joined the Beijing-backed platform, including Russia, Pakistan, Brazil, and Kazakhstan.
02:39The organization promotes cooperation and alternative approaches to AI standards and governance.
02:46And that creates a direct challenge to Washington's model.
02:50Washington wants trusted partners sharing technology, investment, and supply chains within its ecosystem.
02:57China is building an alternative.
02:59For countries caught between the two powers, the pressure is growing rapidly.
03:04One country has become particularly important in this dispute.
03:08Kazakhstan.
03:09The Central Asian nation has participated in both American and Chinese initiatives.
03:15That has reportedly alarmed Washington.
03:18Why?
03:19Because Kazakhstan is potentially important to the future of AI hardware.
03:23The country possesses critical minerals that could become essential to semiconductor and advanced technology supply chains.
03:31The U.S. draft reportedly sends Kazakhstan and other partners a stark message.
03:37You cannot be part of everything.
03:39Washington's argument is that membership in Paxilica is not simply symbolic.
03:44It is supposed to represent a commitment to a particular technology and supply chain ecosystem.
03:49The American concern goes beyond AI models.
03:53It is about who controls the infrastructure behind them.
03:57AI requires enormous amounts of computing power.
04:00That means advanced semiconductors.
04:03It requires data centers.
04:05That means electricity and energy infrastructure.
04:08It also requires minerals, manufacturing capacity, and complex global supply chains.
04:14Whoever controls those networks could gain enormous economic and strategic influence.
04:20There is another reason the stakes are rising.
04:23Chinese open-weight AI models are gaining ground against proprietary American systems.
04:28That means companies like OpenAI and Anthropic are no longer operating in a completely uncontested technological environment.
04:36China's ability to develop and distribute competitive AI models could accelerate the creation of an alternative global technology ecosystem.
04:46And Washington wants to prevent that ecosystem from becoming dominant among its own partners.
04:51The proposed letters therefore represent more than a diplomatic warning.
04:56They could mark the beginning of a much harder division of the global AI economy.
05:00They could mark the beginning of the global AI economy.
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