Xi Jinping World AI Conference Shanghai open source WAICO cooperation organization
Xi Jinping used his first address at the World AI Conference in Shanghai to pitch China as the home of open-source AI, offering 5,000 AI training places to developing countries and backing a new 29-nation AI cooperation body based in Shanghai. Sources: SCMP, Al Jazeera
Chinese leader Xi Jinping delivered his first opening address at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on Friday, positioning China as the champion of open-source AI development. According to the South China Morning Post, Xi said China would seize the opportunity of AI-driven growth by encouraging open source, openness, collaboration and sharing, and told delegates that AI should not be a solo performance by a single country but a symphony of international cooperation. He announced that China will offer 5,000 places in AI training and seminar programs to developing countries over the next five years, build AI application cooperation centers with ASEAN, the Arab League, the African Union and BRICS, and extend access to an AI-powered weather warning system to 30 countries. The speech came a day after 29 countries signed on to establish the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO), headquartered in Shanghai, which Xi called a milestone in the history of world AI development. Xi also criticized broad national-security claims that allow powerful nations to restrict AI access for others. The pledges are aimed squarely at Global South governments, pairing China's freely available open-source models with training and infrastructure. Sources: scmp.com, aljazeera.com