China Might Lap the United States on AI Adoption
Foreign Policy
Foreign Policy
Original Source
China is pursuing a collaborative diplomatic strategy centered on expanding AI access to developing nations through training, multilateral partnerships, and locally-adapted models, while Washington emphasizes market dominance and strategic competition. This divergent approach suggests Beijing may gain greater global influence in shaping how nations develop and govern artificial intelligence systems.
The China-U.S. AI Race Is Playing Out Worldwide
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Analysis
China Might Lap the United States on AI Adoption
Beijing’s collaborative approach is winning over other states.
By **Kenton Thibaut**, a senior China fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Democracy + Tech Initiative and the Indo-Pacific Security Initiative. , and **Kat Duffy**, a senior fellow for digital and cyberspace policy and the director of LEAD AI at the Council on Foreign Relations.
!A visitor walks by a billboard for artificial intelligence as they attend the PT Expo in Beijing.
*A visitor walks by a billboard for artificial intelligence as they attend the PT Expo in Beijing.*
A visitor walks by a billboard at the PT Expo in Beijing on Sept. 22. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images
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October 7, 2026, 4:29 PM
As New York City hosted global leaders for the United Nations General Assembly last week, Washington was consumed with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit on Sept. 24. Artificial intelligence loomed large in both cities, with New York the epicenter of AI talks involving a wide range of global leaders, while Washington narrows its geopolitical lens to one bilateral relationship. The dichotomy is stark and raises a question: How would specific bilateral commitments between China and the United States impact each nation’s broader, existing foreign affairs strategy for AI?
Washington and Beijing have developed clear—and sharply divergent—diplomatic strategies to influence how other nations will develop, deploy, and govern AI systems and establish global AI leadership in the coming decades. Washington has emphasized strategic competition and American market dominance, bundling access to advanced chips, cloud services, AI models, compute power, applications, and financing into a “full-stack” AI export package that features U.S. industry and would be available to favored nations.
As New York City hosted global leaders for the United Nations General Assembly last week, Washington was consumed with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit on Sept. 24. Artificial intelligence loomed large in both cities, with New York the epicenter of AI talks involving a wide range of global leaders, while Washington narrows its geopolitical lens to one bilateral relationship. The dichotomy is stark and raises a question: How would specific bilateral commitments between China and the United States impact each nation’s broader, existing foreign affairs strategy for AI?
Washington and Beijing have developed clear—and sharply divergent—diplomatic strategies to influence how other nations will develop, deploy, and govern AI systems and establish global AI leadership in the coming decades. Washington has emphasized strategic competition and American market dominance, bundling access to advanced chips, cloud services, AI models, compute power, applications, and financing into a “full-stack” AI export package that features U.S. industry and would be available to favored nations.
Beijing has promoted a vision for widespread collaboration based in AI as a development priority, with a focus on offering AI models that can be locally owned and operated, adapted for local needs, and supported by access to training and capacity building, a new multilateral AI body, and Chinese applications. Washington’s strategic partnerships have been designed to position the United States as the undisputed winner of an AI race with China. China’s partnerships have been designed to emphasize multilateral inclusion and equitable access to the benefits of AI, particularly for middle- and low-income countries.
China has been taking steps to move its foreign policy from rhetoric to practice, even though announcements still outpace implementation. On the eve of China’s World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in July, representatives from 29 countries signed an agreement establishing the World AI Cooperation Organization (WAICO) as an “independent” intergovernmental organization headquartered in Shanghai. (Additional countries are now reported to have signed on, according to Chinese media outlets.) The following day, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged 5,000 AI training and seminar opportunities for developing countries over five years. He also announced plans for international AI application centers with leading regional organizations such as BRICS, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the African Union, and the Arab League, as well as assistance for 30 countries to use China’s AI-powered Mazu meteorological early-warning system.
It remains unclear exactly how WAICO’s commitments would play out in practice. The July announcement described its status and aims but did not clarify a financing mechanism, offer a delivery structure for its commitments, or clarify how the organization’s independence would be protected and assured. It is clear that WAICO is designed to help China realize its stated AI strategy. For example, China’s July AI cooperation and development action plan called for accessible computing services for developing countries and support for adapting open AI models to local needs, a sentiment Xi echoed in his speech at the WAIC. (Open-weight models allow developers a model they can copy and adap
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Analysis
China Might Lap the United States on AI Adoption
Beijing’s collaborative approach is winning over other states.
By **Kenton Thibaut**, a senior China fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Democracy + Tech Initiative and the Indo-Pacific Security Initiative. , and **Kat Duffy**, a senior fellow for digital and cyberspace policy and the director of LEAD AI at the Council on Foreign Relations.
!A visitor walks by a billboard for artificial intelligence as they attend the PT Expo in Beijing.
*A visitor walks by a billboard for artificial intelligence as they attend the PT Expo in Beijing.*
A visitor walks by a billboard at the PT Expo in Beijing on Sept. 22. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images
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October 7, 2026, 4:29 PM
As New York City hosted global leaders for the United Nations General Assembly last week, Washington was consumed with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit on Sept. 24. Artificial intelligence loomed large in both cities, with New York the epicenter of AI talks involving a wide range of global leaders, while Washington narrows its geopolitical lens to one bilateral relationship. The dichotomy is stark and raises a question: How would specific bilateral commitments between China and the United States impact each nation’s broader, existing foreign affairs strategy for AI?
Washington and Beijing have developed clear—and sharply divergent—diplomatic strategies to influence how other nations will develop, deploy, and govern AI systems and establish global AI leadership in the coming decades. Washington has emphasized strategic competition and American market dominance, bundling access to advanced chips, cloud services, AI models, compute power, applications, and financing into a “full-stack” AI export package that features U.S. industry and would be available to favored nations.
As New York City hosted global leaders for the United Nations General Assembly last week, Washington was consumed with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit on Sept. 24. Artificial intelligence loomed large in both cities, with New York the epicenter of AI talks involving a wide range of global leaders, while Washington narrows its geopolitical lens to one bilateral relationship. The dichotomy is stark and raises a question: How would specific bilateral commitments between China and the United States impact each nation’s broader, existing foreign affairs strategy for AI?
Washington and Beijing have developed clear—and sharply divergent—diplomatic strategies to influence how other nations will develop, deploy, and govern AI systems and establish global AI leadership in the coming decades. Washington has emphasized strategic competition and American market dominance, bundling access to advanced chips, cloud services, AI models, compute power, applications, and financing into a “full-stack” AI export package that features U.S. industry and would be available to favored nations.
Beijing has promoted a vision for widespread collaboration based in AI as a development priority, with a focus on offering AI models that can be locally owned and operated, adapted for local needs, and supported by access to training and capacity building, a new multilateral AI body, and Chinese applications. Washington’s strategic partnerships have been designed to position the United States as the undisputed winner of an AI race with China. China’s partnerships have been designed to emphasize multilateral inclusion and equitable access to the benefits of AI, particularly for middle- and low-income countries.
China has been taking steps to move its foreign policy from rhetoric to practice, even though announcements still outpace implementation. On the eve of China’s World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in July, representatives from 29 countries signed an agreement establishing the World AI Cooperation Organization (WAICO) as an “independent” intergovernmental organization headquartered in Shanghai. (Additional countries are now reported to have signed on, according to Chinese media outlets.) The following day, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged 5,000 AI training and seminar opportunities for developing countries over five years. He also announced plans for international AI application centers with leading regional organizations such as BRICS, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the African Union, and the Arab League, as well as assistance for 30 countries to use China’s AI-powered Mazu meteorological early-warning system.
It remains unclear exactly how WAICO’s commitments would play out in practice. The July announcement described its status and aims but did not clarify a financing mechanism, offer a delivery structure for its commitments, or clarify how the organization’s independence would be protected and assured. It is clear that WAICO is designed to help China realize its stated AI strategy. For example, China’s July AI cooperation and development action plan called for accessible computing services for developing countries and support for adapting open AI models to local needs, a sentiment Xi echoed in his speech at the WAIC. (Open-weight models allow developers a model they can copy and adap
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Source: Foreign Policy
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