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Central Asia weighs Pax Silica AI access amid US China rivalry
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are both linked to competing AI initiatives, even as the US State Department drafts conditions for countries seeking access to US AI know-how.
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are signaling they may resist US pressure tied to an AI technology access initiative as competition between the United States and China for leadership in AI development intensifies, according to OilPrice citing a Reuters report dated August 14.
The US State Department has drafted a note under a program called Pax Silica that would require any nation seeking wider access to advanced American AI know-how and technology to refrain from joining a rival Chinese initiative, the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, also known as WAICO.
Kazakhstan is a member of both Pax Silica and WAICO, while Uzbekistan is a signatory to the Chinese WAICO initiative and has also expressed interest in expanding cooperation with the United States on AI development.
More broadly, the United States has expanded economic ties with all five Central Asian states over the past 18 months, and Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan officials have taken steps suggesting they are unlikely to follow what US authorities are effectively seeking, OilPrice reports. Kazakhstan’s continued engagement with China is reflected in an August 18 agreement between experts from the countries’ academies of sciences to jointly develop a science-focused AI platform to analyze scientific literature and large data sets.