China Is Winning the AI Race Trump Won't Run
The United States is ceding ground to Beijing in the race to become the world’s top AI rule-maker.
As AI technology becomes increasingly integrated into every facet of our lives, the question of who will shape its rules and ethical guidelines becomes critical. While both China and the United States should ideally be leading this charge, America is currently lagging behind. Chinese President Xi Jinping emphasized during his recent visit to Washington, D.C. that both nations share the responsibility of "managing AI for good," which Beijing defines as keeping AI under human control and subject to the oversight of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
In response, China has established the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO) this summer, a global AI governing body designed to include small and middle-income countries that are outside the U.S. tech boom for political and ideological reasons. These countries find WAICO to be a valuable platform for shaping AI rule-making due to China's appeal as a politically and ideologically aligned governing authority.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., leading AI labs are advocating for regulation, and President Donald Trump sees an irony in this - he believes the entity that creates the best AI will also have the power to set the rules. While the world may not yet be asking enough questions about AI governance, the answers are already beginning to fragment along geopolitical lines.
China's strategic move to formalize WAICO came after the U.S. established Pax Silica in December 2025, a coalition of Western-aligned countries seeking secure, end-to-end supply chains for AI technology. However, Pax Silica's focus on economic security and reinforcing U.S. advantages over China leaves no room for discussion on AI governance or safety.
For China, the benefits of a WAICO-led AI governance body go beyond mere representation. By providing resources and technology to less advanced nations, China can expand its influence in AI through existing channels like the Belt and Road Initiative. This approach could dilute America's leadership in AI by ensuring Chinese labs have more customers and by encouraging friendly governments to adopt Chinese rules.
China has prepared for this moment for years, issuing guidelines for AI agent development, rules for human-like AI services, and plans to regulate data used in embodied AI - all aimed at maintaining control over AI technology and preventing its misuse.
Written by urgent.news from Newsweek's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
