# China's Xi Jinping launches World AI Cooperation Organisation (WAICO)

> China has launched the World AI Cooperation Organisation, a new intergovernmental body with 29 founding members that reportedly include Indonesia, Brazil, Malaysia, South Africa, Russia and Pakistan. Headquartered in Shanghai, WAICO says it wants to develop unified regulatory frameworks and give developing nations a bigger voice in how artificial intelligence is governed. Xi Jinping framed the effort as a symphony of international cooperation rather than a solo performance, a pointed contrast with what Beijing casts as a US-dominated approach. The move is really about who writes the rules. Analysts read WAICO as China's bid to shape AI policy at the UN level and to promote a more state-centric model of governance, one that emphasizes sovereignty and central coordination over the lighter-touch, market-led framing common in Washington. Whether the organisation becomes a genuine standards-setter or mostly a diplomatic signal will depend on how many countries actually adopt its frameworks, but the launch makes clear that AI governance is now a full-blown arena of geopolitical competition.

_Section: [Daily AI Updates](https://www.wortins.com/daily-ai) · Source: Al Jazeera · Published Saturday, July 18, 2026_

## Wortins' read

China has launched the World AI Cooperation Organisation, a new intergovernmental body with 29 founding members that reportedly include Indonesia, Brazil, Malaysia, South Africa, Russia and Pakistan. Headquartered in Shanghai, WAICO says it wants to develop unified regulatory frameworks and give developing nations a bigger voice in how artificial intelligence is governed. Xi Jinping framed the effort as a symphony of international cooperation rather than a solo performance, a pointed contrast with what Beijing casts as a US-dominated approach. The move is really about who writes the rules. Analysts read WAICO as China's bid to shape AI policy at the UN level and to promote a more state-centric model of governance, one that emphasizes sovereignty and central coordination over the lighter-touch, market-led framing common in Washington. Whether the organisation becomes a genuine standards-setter or mostly a diplomatic signal will depend on how many countries actually adopt its frameworks, but the launch makes clear that AI governance is now a full-blown arena of geopolitical competition.

## Source

[Read the full story at Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/17/chinas-xi-jinping-launches-new-ai-alliance-what-is-it)

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