Xi Jinping just told the world that China intends to write the rules for artificial intelligence.
Speaking at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on July 17, the Chinese president delivered his first major public address on AI safety and governance, proposing the creation of an entirely new international body called the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, or WAICO. The organization would rope in 29 countries, predominantly from the Global South, to collaboratively develop AI governance standards under Beijing’s umbrella.
A new AI bloc, no blockchain in sight
Here’s what’s notable about Xi’s keynote: not a single mention of blockchain, crypto assets, or decentralized technologies. Zero. In a sweeping address about the future of global technology governance, the entire decentralized stack was treated as if it didn’t exist.
Xi championed open-source AI models, which might sound philosophically aligned with crypto’s ethos of open collaboration. But the framing was entirely different. Open-source, in Beijing’s telling, means state-backed models shared with partner nations on China’s terms.
