U.S. to tell partners they must pick sides in AI race with China

NEW: US to warn partner nations they will be excluded from its AI coalition if they also sign up to China's competing framework, telling them to pick sides in the AI race.

Washington is about to tell dozens of countries, pick a side in the AI race, us or China. Reuters has seen the internal draft, and the message is blunt. Sign up to Beijing's competing framework and you're out of the American coalition. No hedging allowed.

The coalition is called Pax Silica, launched last year to lock down supply chains for AI models, chips and critical minerals. About two dozen countries are already in, including Japan, Australia and South Korea. And then there's Kazakhstan, which is the interesting one. It sits on critical minerals everybody wants, and it has also joined China's framework. This warning reads like it was written with Astana in mind.

It's not landing quietly either. Protesters marched against Pax Silica in Manila this week. For decades the playbook for mid-sized economies was simple, trade with both giants. Washington is now saying that era is over, and a lot of capitals just got a choice they never wanted to make.

This is Liu Yang, reporting for HIT.

Source Read the original reporting at japantimes.co.jp