US government warns countries to choose sides in AI race

The US State Department is preparing to deliver what amounts to a geopolitical loyalty test to roughly 35 countries: pick us or pick China, but you can’t have both. The warning, reported on August 14, 2026, tells partner nations in the US-led Pax Silica initiative that any participation in China’s World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation, known as WAICO, will result in exclusion from the American-led bloc. Two blocs, one ultimatum Pax Silica launched on December 12, 2025, at a summit in Washington, D.C. Its founding partners included Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the UK, and Australia. The EU, India, and Israel joined later. The initiative’s core mission is supply-chain resilience. Signatories committed to coordinated investments in semiconductors and data centers, with the explicit goal of reducing dependence on concentrated supply chains, particularly those running through China. On the other side of this divide sits WAICO, announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping on July 16, 2026, during a speech in Shanghai. It launched with 29 founding members, including Brazil, Russia, and South Africa. Kazakhstan’s awkward position Of all the countries caught in this tug-of-w...