The U.S. is preparing to issue a strict ultimatum to dozens of countries, requiring them to choose between Washington’s AI coalition or a competing global initiative led by Beijing. According to a U.S. official and an internal draft document, nations that sign up for China’s AI framework will be barred from participating in the U.S.-led “Pax Silica” initiative—a strategic alliance launched to secure supply chains for advanced AI models, semiconductors, and critical minerals.

The move comes as Washington seeks to starve China of strategic resources amid an intensifying battle for global technological and economic dominance. Tensions flared after Chinese President Xi Jinping unveiled the “World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization” to promote China’s open-weight technology. The discovery that Kazakhstan—a mineral-rich Central Asian country—had joined both the Pax Silica framework and China’s coalition triggered alarm in Washington. In the draft letter prepared by the State Department, officials explicitly warn signatories that Pax Silica membership requires exclusive commitment and “cannot be held alongside membership in duplicative initiatives whose expectations conflict with our own.”

While the State Department declined to comment on leaked documents, China’s embassy in Washington condemned the effort, stating that politicizing technology stifles global AI progress. The diplomatic push underscores a critical juncture in Sino-American tech competition, where rapid advances in Chinese AI models and China’s leverage over critical mineral supply chains have driven Washington to enforce stricter, mutually exclusive technology alliances among its global partners.