Kazakhstan's dual AI memberships test old logic of geopolitical rivalry

September 9, 2026 at 09:58 AM2 min

This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.

Kazakhstan participates in both the U.S.-led Pax Silica initiative and China's World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO), two competing AI frameworks. Reuters reported in August that the U.S. State Department was preparing to tell countries in both initiatives they would have to choose one side. The overlap tests Kazakhstan's long-standing multi-vector foreign policy as AI becomes a strategic technology.

Key Facts

Kazakhstan is a founding member of WAICO, established in Shanghai on July 16 by 29 countries.
Reuters reported in August that the U.S. State Department was preparing to tell countries participating in both Pax Silica and WAICO they would have to choose one side.
Pax Silica, launched by the U.S. in late 2025, focuses on securing supply chains for the AI economy, from critical minerals to semiconductors.
WAICO presents itself as an international intergovernmental organization focused on AI cooperation and global governance.

Dual Membership

Kazakhstan participates in both the U.S.-led Pax Silica initiative and China's World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO). The overlap has already attracted attention in Washington. Reuters reported in August that the U.S. State Department was preparing to tell countries participating in both Pax Silica and China's competing AI framework that they would have to choose one side. According to a draft letter reviewed by Reuters, countries seeking to participate in Pax Silica would be expected to commit exclusively to the U.S.-led initiative. Kazakhstan was among the countries identified as participating in both.

Competing Visions

Pax Silica, launched by the U.S. in late 2025, is built around securing supply chains that underpin the AI economy, extending from critical minerals and energy to semiconductors, advanced manufacturing, computing infrastructure and logistics. It emphasizes resilience, trusted partners and the protection of sensitive technologies. WAICO, established in Shanghai on July 16 by 29 founding countries including Kazakhstan, presents itself differently. Beijing describes it as an international intergovernmental organization focused on AI cooperation and global governance.

Strategic Implications

For decades, Kazakhstan has built its foreign policy around maintaining productive relations with competing powers without becoming dependent on any one of them. This has allowed Astana to work with Russia, China, the United States, the European Union and others, even as those powers have competed for influence in Eurasia. AI may be about to test that model in an entirely new way. A more consequential question is whether AI could encourage a different way of organizing international relations, one in which cooperation, interoperability, transparency and trust become as strategically important as alignment.