China’s Premier Takes Aim at AI ‘Monopoly’ as US Effort Quickens

Li Qiang on July 26. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg Photo by Qilai Shen /Bloomberg

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(Bloomberg) — China will spearhead the creation of an international organization to jointly develop AI, the country’s premier said, seeking to ensure that world-changing technology doesn’t become the province of just a few nations or companies.

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Artificial intelligence harbors risks from widespread job losses to economic upheaval that require nations to work together to address, Premier Li Qiang told the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on Saturday. That means more international exchanges, Beijing’s No. 2 official said during China’s most important annual technology summit.

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Li didn’t name any countries in his short address to kick off the event. But Chinese executives and officials have taken aim at Washington’s efforts to curtail the Asian country’s tech sector, including by slapping restrictions on the export of Nvidia Corp. chips crucial to AI development. On Saturday, Li acknowledged a shortage of semiconductors was a major bottleneck, but reaffirmed President Xi Jinping’s call to establish policies to propel Beijing’s ambitions. The government will now help create a body — loosely translated as the World AI Cooperation Organization — through which countries can share insights and talent.

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“Currently, key resources and capabilities are concentrated in a few countries and a few enterprises. If we engage in technological monopoly, controls and restrictions, AI will become an exclusive game for a small number of countries and enterprises,” Li told hundreds of delegates huddled at the conference venue on the banks of Shanghai’s iconic Huangpu river. 

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China and the US are locked in a race to develop a technology with the potential to turbocharge economies and — over the long run — tip the balance of geopolitical power. This week, US President Donald Trump signed executive orders to loosen regulations and expand energy supplies for data centers — a call to arms to ensure companies like OpenAI and Google help safeguard America’s lead in the post-ChatGPT era. 

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At the same time, the breakout success of DeepSeek has inspired Chinese tech leaders and startups to accelerate research and roll out products such as open-sourced models, robots and AI agents. 

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That parade of technology represents Chinese developers’ efforts to set world standards and benchmarks, and grab a bigger slice of the global market. They also dovetail with Beijing’s broader efforts to ensure self-reliance on critical technologies in the face of tensions between the world’s economic superpowers.

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The weekend conference in Shanghai — gathering star founders, Beijing officials and deep-pocketed financiers by the thousands — is designed to catalyze that movement. The event, which has featured Elon Musk and Jack Ma in years past, was launched in 2018 to showcase China’s cutting-edge technology. 

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This year’s attendance may hit a record because it’s taking place at a critical juncture in the global race to lead the development of generative AI. It’s already drawn some notable figures: Nobel Prize laureate Geoffrey Hinton and former Google chief Eric Schmidt were among industry heavyweights who met Shanghai party boss Chen Jining on Thursday, before they were due to speak at the conference.

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Going forward, China will in particular seek to propel AI development in the Global South, Li said, referring to a loose gathering that includes Brazil and Africa.

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“We are willing to share our development experience and technological products to help countries around the world, especially those in the Global South, strengthen their capacity-building and bring the benefit of AI to the world,” he said.

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—With assistance from Jing Li and Charlie Zhu.

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