From Bloomberg, July 30:
While humanoid robots faced off in a boxing ring at China’s flagship artificial intelligence conference in Shanghai, a fight in the US-China tech war was fought in suits nearby over who gets to set the rules in the AI age.
China’s answer is a new global organization to convene countries to foster safe and inclusive use of the powerful new technology. At the annual World AI Conference over the weekend, Chinese Premier Li Qiang warned of AI “monopoly” and instead called on foreign officials in the room — mostly from developing countries — to cooperate on governance.
The new group, known as the World AI Cooperation Organization, embodies China’s plan to jostle with the US for sway by positioning itself as a champion of AI for all. More favorable rules may give a global boost to Chinese companies competing with US firms to sell hardware and services in a market estimated to hit $4.8 trillion by 2033.
For many of the countries represented at the conference, Chinese firms already offer competitive solutions, even if the US dominates the supply of cutting-edge AI chips.
“The Chinese are coming to the table with a very different AI product mix that is going to be extremely appealing to lower-income countries that lack the computing and power infrastructure needed for large-scale implementation of OpenAI-like AI systems,” said Eric Olander of the China-Global South Project.
Over 800 AI companies from more than 70 countries and regions attended the conference, according to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Using technology as both carrot and calling card, Beijing’s approach appears to take a page out of its earlier Digital Silk Road initiative, which put Chinese companies at the center of telecommunications networks spanning continents.
China for years has strived to define the global parameters for emerging technologies such as 5G, seeking to influence development and set the stage for its companies to win market share abroad. Huawei Technologies Co.’s prominent role in standard-setting groups became the subject of scrutiny of the US government when it cracked down on the use of its equipment.
Global AI governance has emerged as a new battleground for the world’s leading powers, both seeing the technology as critical not just for their economy but national security....
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I'm not sure why but the "World AI Cooperation Organization" somehow reminds me of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere:
Propaganda term for the sphere of influence of the
Japanese empire, purporting to provide pan-Asian
autonomy free from European colonialism
