China backs open AI models in race for global influence

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China pushes open-source AI

Highlights

Xi positioned China as a leader in global AI governance.
Beijing is promoting open-source AI as a tool for developing nations.
WAICO has signed up 29 member countries.
China and the U.S. are advancing competing AI rulebooks.

Speaking at the opening of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, Xi urged countries to seize what he called a historic opportunity in open-source AI and pledged to help developing nations build AI capacity, Reuters reported. He warned that unequal access to AI could create new global divisions.

Open-source AI as foreign policy

Xi framed AI as a technology on the scale of the steam engine and electricity, placing it at the center of future economic power. His speech positioned China’s open-source and open-weight AI models as a public good for countries that cannot match the spending power of the U.S. or its largest technology companies.

The pitch also gives Beijing a clear answer to Washington’s strategy. The U.S. has focused on controlling advanced chips, securing supply chains, and limiting access to frontier AI capabilities. China is trying to make access itself the selling point.

That strategy is gaining momentum as Chinese AI developers improve their models. On Friday, Beijing-based Moonshot AI unveiled Kimi K3, which it described as the world’s largest open AI model by parameter count. The launch came as Chinese open-weight systems continue to narrow the gap with proprietary models from companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic.

Beijing builds an AI coalition

Xi also pointed to the newly created World AI Cooperation Organization, which signed up 29 member countries on Thursday. He described the group as a milestone and tied it to demands from developing nations for a larger voice in AI governance.

China plans to provide AI training and build cooperation centers with BRICS, ASEAN, Latin American, and African Union countries. The effort fits Beijing’s broader diplomatic approach, using infrastructure, technology, and standards to strengthen ties across the Global South.

The timing matters. Washington and Beijing are preparing for their first government-level AI talks under the Trump administration, while both countries are already presenting competing visions at international forums.

The standards race

The fight is not only about models or chips. It is about who writes the rules for AI safety, access, and control.

Xi called for human oversight, early-warning systems, and emergency-response mechanisms to manage AI risks. He also warned against autonomous systems escaping human control, marking one of his clearest public comments on AI safety.

For China, the message is strategic. By linking open-source AI with development and governance, Beijing is trying to turn technology access into geopolitical influence. For the U.S., that makes AI a standards race as much as a commercial one.

As we previously reported, Nvidia tightens Asia AI chip sales under U.S. pressure.

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