ASEAN – SCY TECH AI | ASEAN must navigate US-China AI rivalry: Panelists
An illustrative picture shows icons of Google’s artificial intelligence (AI) app BardAI, or ChatBot, OpenAI’s app ChatGPT and other AI apps, on July 12, 2023, on a smartphone screen in Oslo. (AFP/Olivier Morin)
.
.
Southeast Asia is caught between competing AI initiatives Pax Silica and WAICO.
A SEAN and Indonesia must tread carefully when deciding how to implement artificial intelligence in their territories, as the frontier technology has become a new arena of rivalry between the United States and China, which are seeking to expand their influence in the region, a panel of experts has said.
.
Ali Abdullah Wibisono, an associate professor of international relations at the University of Indonesia, said AI is no longer just a piece of new technology but has instead become an instrument of power, as exemplified by competing AI initiatives led by the United States and China, Pax Silica and the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO), respectivel
.
 |
Ali pointed out that while the US-led Pax Silica was more concerned with building a global supply chain for AI infrastructure, WAICO was instead focused on fostering the capacity and capabilities of its members in AI.
.
“Washington wants to exclude unwanted powers from acquiring access to cutting-edge chips and semiconductor equipment.
.
Meanwhile, Beijing wants to achieve technological self-sufficiency,” Ali said in a discussion hosted by think tank The Habibie Center in Jakarta on Thursday.
.
|
|
Pax Silica was first announced in December 2025, led by the US, and now has 24 signatories, including two Southeast Asian nations, Singapore and the Philippines.
….
WAICO was established in July 2026, proposed by China ahead of the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai.
.
The organization now has 37 member states, with Southeast Asian countries including Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar.
|
|
..
Caught in the middle…. Click to read: https://www.thejakartapost.com/world/2026/09/19/asean-must-navigate-us-china-ai-rivalry-panelists?utm_source=(direct)&utm_medium=home_world.
.
A. Muh. Ibnu Aqil –
The Jakarta Post PREMIUM
Jakarta
Sat, September 19, 2026
.
.
.
