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At the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, President Xi Jinping positioned China as a pioneer of open-source AI and co-founded its own governance organization. Western observers see US supremacy challenged by cheap Chinese models. At the same time, both sides are tightening controls on chips and drones.

China's rapid rise in artificial intelligence was the centerpiece of the WAIC in Shanghai. President Xi Jinping championed open, cooperative AI and called for the founding of a new organization (WAICO) based in Shanghai, which Chinese state media such as the Global Times celebrate as a milestone. Market-liberal outlets such as Bloomberg describe an AI-for-all offensive that undercuts the US containment concept, while The Economist warns that America's AI labs are coming under pressure from cheap Chinese rivals. From a Western perspective, Beijing's open-source strategy also serves to gain global reach despite US export controls on high-performance chips. At the same time, the technology conflict is escalating: according to Al Jazeera, Washington wants to block imports of drones usable for military purposes, above all from China, while Beijing is weighing its own export controls on AI technology. The Financial Times points to the changed economic logic that open models are setting off across the industry. It remains disputed whether China's openness is aimed above all at cooperation or at geopolitical influence.