U.S. Plans to Force AI Alliance Members to Choose Sides Against China
Nashnova编辑部
The U.S. State Department is drafting warnings to 35 signatories of its AI cooperation statement: join China's rival AI framework and you're out. This pick-one-or-lose-both pressure marks the moment the U.S.–China AI race spills from technology into diplomatic alliance-building.
What exactly is the U.S. demanding?
According to Reuters, citing a U.S. official and an internal draft, the State Department plans to send letters to 35 signatory nations telling them they must choose between the U.S. and Chinese AI frameworks — not both.
The draft is blunt: "Being part of everything is being part of nothing." This means → Washington is no longer tolerating hedge-both-sides diplomacy; it wants exclusive commitment.
The letter urges countries to "choose carefully," warning that the commitment "cannot coexist with duplicative initiatives whose expectations conflict with ours" — China is not named, but the target is unmistakable.
What is Pax Silica, and who has joined?
Pax Silica — the U.S.-led AI cooperation framework — aims to integrate AI models, semiconductors, and critical-mineral supply chains. Roughly twenty-plus countries have joined so far.
Members include Japan, Australia, and South Korea, core U.S. allies. In plain terms = this is not just a tech-cooperation club — it is a full supply-chain alliance from mine to chip to model.
The "AI Opportunities Statement," signed in June this year, covers 35 nations — both Pax Silica members and others signaling willingness to align with the U.S. on AI cooperation.
Why has Kazakhstan become the cautionary example?
Kazakhstan is the only known country to have joined both the U.S. and Chinese AI frameworks simultaneously, raising alarms in Washington.
The U.S. had promoted Kazakhstan in June as "the first Central Asian nation to join Pax Silica," precisely because of its large critical-mineral reserves.
This reflects a deeper tension: China has already weaponized its near-monopoly on critical minerals as a counter to U.S. tariffs, restricting exports multiple times. The U.S. urgently needs independent sourcing from allies — making Kazakhstan's minerals strategically valuable and its foot-in-both-camps stance especially sensitive.
What is China doing on its side?
In July, Xi Jinping formally launched the World AI Cooperation Organization, using China's open-weight AI models — where model parameters are publicly shared — as a banner to directly challenge U.S. dominance.
At the same time, Chinese open-weight models are rapidly closing the gap with proprietary systems from OpenAI and Anthropic. This means → China is not just building a diplomatic bloc; its technology hand is strengthening too.
Is this confirmed? What does it mean for markets?
The draft letter carries no send date yet; the State Department declined to comment on "an allegedly leaked internal document." Neither the Chinese nor the Kazakh embassies in Washington responded to requests for comment.
Put simply = the letter has not been sent and its contents could still change — but the directional signal is clear enough.
This means → the diplomatic contest over AI alliances is, at its core, an extension of the U.S.–China struggle for control of critical minerals, chips, and AI model supply chains. Which countries ultimately pick a side will directly shape the resource flows underpinning global AI infrastructure.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.