China just made its boldest move yet to become the referee of the global AI game, not just a player. President Xi Jinping used the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on July 17 to position Beijing as the architect of international AI governance, while making clear that Chinese companies should be the ones cashing checks as the technology reshapes every economy on the planet.
A new global AI club, and the West wasn’t invited
The day before Xi’s keynote, 29 countries signed an agreement establishing the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation, or WAICO. The founding members read like a roster of the Global South’s heavyweights: Brazil, Russia, South Africa, and a constellation of emerging economies that have grown increasingly skeptical of Western-dominated tech governance.
Xi compared AI to the steam engine, calling it an “epoch-making technological transformation.” He used the Shanghai stage to announce 5,000 AI training opportunities for developing countries over the next five years and pledged deeper collaboration with regional blocs like ASEAN and BRICS.
The governance playbook and what it means for tech
