Xi Jinping used his first WAIC keynote to pitch open AI for the developing world and needle US export controls, a day after China launched a rival AI body.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s speech at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai signals the technology’s importance to Beijing as a powerful diplomatic tool.

American-led restrictions have blocked China from accessing some of the world's most advanced technologies, spurring China's efforts to build its own know-how and intensifying the…