Twenty-nine nations signed on to the World AI Cooperation Organization (WAICO) in Shanghai on July 16, creating a China-led intergovernmental body that aims to set the rules for artificial intelligence governance. Russia, Brazil, Cuba, Venezuela, Belarus, and Serbia are among the founding members, alongside ten African and twelve Asian nations.
What WAICO actually is
The organization traces its origins to a proposal from Chinese Premier Li Qiang at the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference. That proposal included a 13-point Global AI Governance Action Plan covering AI safety, data standardization, infrastructure development, and sustainable tech deployment.
One year later, WAICO became real. The signing ceremony took place alongside this year’s World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and UN Secretary-General António Guterres in attendance. The headquarters will be permanently housed in Shanghai, cementing China’s position at the center of this new governance structure.
The geopolitical chess game
