Washington Puts the World Before a Choice: AI With America… or With China
According to Reuters, the United States is preparing to send a message to around 35 countries warning them against joining China-linked artificial intelligence frameworks, with a clear message:
“You cannot be on both sides.”
The warning is linked to what is known as “Pax Silica,” a U.S.-led framework involving around 24 countries, including Japan, Australia, South Korea, and Kazakhstan.
According to the report, the message also carries an implicit threat: countries that choose to engage with the Chinese technological ecosystem could face exclusion from the U.S.-led technology alliance.
But this is where the real problem lies.
If Washington genuinely believes in free markets, free trade, and open competition, why is technological cooperation being turned into a geopolitical loyalty test?
AI is not a piece of territory that can simply be divided into spheres of influence. It is a global ecosystem dependent on semiconductors, data centers, cloud computing, algorithms, critical minerals, universities, and capital—all connected across dozens of countries.
So demanding that countries
“choose between Washington and Beijing”
looks less like free trade policy and more like an attempt to build a closed technological bloc and weaponize access to technology for geopolitical purposes.
The irony?
Washington warns countries about “dependency” on China while asking them to make technological dependency on the United States the acceptable alternative.
If AI is the future of the global economy, turning it into a tool of geopolitical alignment will lead to fragmented digital markets, higher technology costs, reduced competition, and slower global innovation.
The question is not:
America or China?
The question countries should be asking is:
Why should they have to choose at all?
Free trade means freedom of choice—not freedom to choose between two blocs defined by Washington and Beijing.