Armenia will have to pick sides in US-China AI race
YEREVAN, August 17. /ARKA/. The U.S. is preparing to tell dozens of countries they must pick sides in the artificial intelligence race with China, warning they will be excluded from a U.S.-led AI coalition if they also sign up for Beijing's competing framework, according to a U.S. official and an internal draft reviewed by Reuters.
Washington last year launched the Pax Silica initiative aimed at securing supply chains for AI models, semiconductors and critical minerals, amid a fierce technology rivalry with Beijing.
About two dozen countries have joined, including Kazakhstan, a key potential source of critical minerals that has also joined China's coalition, as well as close U.S. allies such as Japan, Australia and South Korea.
The draft letter, prepared by the State Department, is addressed to the 35 signatories of a U.S. "AI Opportunity Statement" signed in June, which includes members of the non-binding Pax Silica framework and other countries that have expressed a desire to align cooperation on AI with Washington.
By pressing countries to choose sides the U.S. hopes to starve China of resources in a race to make the most sophisticated AI, which could be used for military or economic dominance.
In July, Chinese President Xi Jinping launched a rival "World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization", promoting his country's open-weight technology as a challenge to U.S. influence over the fast-moving sector.
Kazakhstan is the only country so far known to have joined both initiatives, setting off alarm bells in Washington.
"To be part of everything is to be part of nothing. Signature of the Pax Silica Declaration is not merely a membership subscription, but a commitment," the letter says, urging countries to "choose deliberately" on AI.
"It cannot be held alongside membership in duplicative initiatives whose expectations conflict with our own," the letter said, without specifically mentioning China.
Reuters could not determine when the U.S. intends to send the letter or whether it might be amended before sending. The draft was undated.
Armenia and the US AI Initiative
On June 25, Armenian Ambassador to the US Narek Mkrtchyan and US Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg signed the Joint Statement on AI Opportunity Partnership at the Pax Silica Summit in Washington.
The document envisions deepening cooperation in future AI supply chains, including energy infrastructure, critical minerals, workforce development, and sustainable semiconductor supply chains.
Other areas of cooperation include attracting venture and technology capital, research collaboration, developing next-generation data centers, expanding access to computing power, and developing trusted AI models.
It is important to distinguish between two formats: Armenia is a signatory to the AI Opportunity Statement, but is not included in the State Department's list of 24 formal signatories to the Pax Silica declaration. The approach outlined in the draft American letter is potentially of particular importance to Yerevan, given Armenia's policy of diversifying its foreign relations.
In a July interview with Axios, Armenian Ambassador to the United States Narek Mkrtchyan emphasized that Yerevan's expanded cooperation with Washington and the European Union is not directed against Russia, Iran, China, or any other country.
He also spoke of Armenia's desire to strengthen its sovereignty by reducing dependence on a single external partner.
If the American document is distributed in its current version, it could raise the question for Armenia and other signatories of the AI Opportunity Statement about the compatibility of a policy of technological diversification with the formation of increasingly separate American and Chinese AI ecosystems.-0-