The U.S.-China AI War Has Kazakhstan Caught in the Crossfire

The United States and China each have initiatives racing to shape the future of artificial intelligence, and Kazakhstan may have to choose a side. As the only country to have joined both the American-led Pax Silica initiative and China's World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization WAICO, its longstanding multivector foreign policy is coming under new pressure as Washington and Beijing compete for technological influence. The unusual position has drawn scrutiny from Washington as the United States seeks to limit China's influence over AI technology and its supply chains. Reuters reported last month that the US government was preparing to tell dozens of countries they must choose between competing AI initiatives. A draft State Department letter reviewed by Reuters warned that countries joining China's rival framework could be excluded from the US-led coalition.