Ahead of the World AI Conference in Shanghai, 30 countries joined the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO), an initiative proposed by China to facilitate global collaboration on AI governance.

WAICO will be headquartered in Shanghai and is intended to act as an independent intergovernmental organisation with the aim of encouraging cooperation between nations to ensure AI is beneficial, safe, and fair for all, in accordance with the principles of the UN Charter.

Among the signatories to WAICO are China, Russia, Brazil, Indonesia, Pakistan, Cuba, Belarus, Serbia, and numerous other countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America. The organisation’s agreement enshrines the principle of open participation without conditions based on values or systems of governance, and emphasises the need to reduce the gap in access to technology between developed and emerging markets.

In an address at the World AI Conference, China’s President Xi Jinping described WAICO as a response to calls from the Global South, saying AI governance should not be a “solo performance by one country, but rather a symphony of global cooperation”. Xi framed WAICO as a forum with no barriers to entry in which members can freely collaborate on training programs, projects and governance – rather than an organisation led from the top by China.

It is significant that no major US-aligned nations were among WAICO’s founding members as this may result in a geopolitical schism in AI governance, potentially even evolving into different ecosystems of standards, infrastructure and legislation. Xi did not mention the US in his address but pointedly warned against nations “overstretching the national security concept in the field of AI or placing one country’s security over that of others”.

The idea for WAICO was first proposed publicly at the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference, although China was pushing the concept prior to this, arguing in its Global AI Governance Initiative that legislation must give equal weight to the requirements of development and safety.

While China has made great pains to underline that it will not lead WAICO, in practice the organisation will provide Xi with a forum to influence international standards and policy around AI as well as a vehicle through which China will be able to provide technical support to developing nations, which will doubtless strengthen its standing in the Global South as the alternative to Western-led AI initiatives. Indeed, Xi detailed that China would make 5000 AI-focused training places available to applicants from developing countries, as well as establishing cooperation centres with member countries.