Washington should stop creating division by coercing other nations to take sides in AI: China Daily editorial

In a move that seeks to engineer confrontation among nations on the technology front, the United States is reportedly ready to demand that dozens of countries pick sides in the artificial intelligence race with China — warning that they will be excluded from a US-led AI coalition if they also sign up for China's "competing framework".

The draft letter, prepared by the US State Department, is said to be addressed to the 35 signatories of a US "AI Opportunity Statement" signed in June. Washington obviously hopes to form a technology bloc to deny China access to the resources vital for building state-of-the-art AI.

Such a strategy will undoubtedly do damage to the development of AI as it will fragment the global supply chains and erode multilateral cooperation. It will also disrupt the positive feedback loop between technological innovation, market development and real-world application, ultimately hindering the growth and sustainability of the AI ecosystem itself. This reflects Washington's zero-sum game mindset — if the US cannot lead, it seeks to block others from making headway.

The Chinese embassy in the US expressed firm opposition to the US politicizing trade and technology issues. "Such actions will only stifle global AI advances and serve no one's interests," an embassy spokesperson said.

By drawing red lines for cooperation through exclusionary clauses and forcing other countries to pick sides, the US is weaponizing technological competition, while seeking to preserve its dominant position in the field of AI through alliance-based barriers. The US' hegemonic approach not only harms others but will ultimately undermine its own long-term development as well.

Now that AI is becoming a key technology driving the new round of scientific and technological revolution, it is all the more important for nations to accelerate open exchanges in this field for the common good of all.

For those in the US seeking to erect walls, they should understand that holding innovation hostage to geopolitics goes against the rationale of science and technology as well as the trend of the times. They should respect normal international technological cooperation and the right of countries to independently choose their cooperation partners. The US will only alienate itself from other countries if it denies nations the right to engage with their partners based on their own development needs, and coerces them into making an either-or choice.

The US has gone to extraordinary lengths to press countries to take sides in virtually every field it deems vital to maintain its hegemony, including critical minerals, trade and supply chains. This cannot but raise fears that the world is poised to revert to a lose-lose situation for all nations.

Faced with the opportunities and challenges brought by AI, what the world needs is an inclusive and consultative governance system, not divisive and fragmented technological barriers.

China promotes global AI governance by championing an open, inclusive, and multilateral approach to make AI a global public good. It advocates "humanity-centered" and "AI-for-good" development, supporting the United Nations' central role in establishing international governance mechanisms. Through initiatives such as open-source models, capacity-building training for developing nations and the creation of the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, the country actively works to bridge the global digital divide and ensure that AI benefits all of humanity. 

Bloc confrontation cannot solve technological challenges, nor can exclusionary alliances advance human scientific progress. If the US continues to build technological barriers, it will lose the innovative vitality that is inseparable from global technology cooperation and find itself in the predicament of closed-door development.