World AI Cooperation Organization
In plain wordsAn international organization for cooperation on AI, based in Shanghai, set up in 2026 by an agreement among 29 countries on China's initiative.
An intergovernmental organization for cooperation on artificial intelligence, proposed by China and based in Shanghai, established by an agreement that 29 countries signed in July 2026. Its stated aims are to make AI technology, infrastructure, training and benefits accessible to all countries — especially developing ones — through consultation and shared contribution, and to promote global AI governance. Analysts see it as a China-led alternative to Western-led frameworks such as the EU AI ActEU AI Act, prop. n.: The European Union's law on artificial intelligence, the first broad AI law anywhere: it bans some uses, sets strict checks for risky ones and puts duties on the makers of the biggest AI models. and the G7 Hiroshima AI ProcessG7 Hiroshima AI Process, prop. n.: An effort begun by the G7 group of wealthy democracies in Japan in 2023 that sets voluntary rules for companies building the most advanced AI, which now report publicly on how they follow them.; critics warn that it could spread state-centric models of digital governance and deepen dependence on Chinese AI infrastructure and standards.
Several African delegations said joining WAICO was mainly about access to compute and training.
Origin
Proposed by Chinese Premier Li Qiang at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai in July 2025. Representatives of 29 countries signed the agreement establishing it in Shanghai in mid-July 2026, alongside that year's conference; Chinese official media reported the signing on 17 July.
Related
- AI governanceAI governance, n.: The rules, institutions and habits that shape how AI is built and used — from laws and treaties to technical standards and a company's own review processes.
- Global Partnership on Artificial IntelligenceGlobal Partnership on Artificial Intelligence, prop. n.: An international group of countries, launched in 2020 and now run together with the OECD, that brings governments and experts together to put trustworthy AI into practice.
- Independent International Scientific Panel on AIIndependent International Scientific Panel on AI, prop. n.: A group of 40 independent experts set up by the United Nations in 2025 to give every country a shared, science-based picture of what AI can do, its risks and its benefits.
- sovereign AIsovereign AI, n.: A country's ability to build and run AI on its own terms, so that the computers, models and know-how it relies on cannot be withheld or dictated by foreign companies or governments.
- AI Safety SummitAI Safety Summit, prop. n.: A series of international meetings of governments, AI companies and researchers, begun in England in 2023, to agree on how to handle the risks and benefits of the most advanced AI.
- Framework Convention on Artificial IntelligenceFramework Convention on Artificial Intelligence, prop. n.: The first binding international treaty on AI, drawn up by the Council of Europe, in which countries promise that AI used by governments and businesses will respect human rights, democracy and the rule of law.
Sources
- Shanghai Municipal People's Government (2026). Agreement signed to establish World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization. 17 July 2026. english.shanghai.gov.cn/en-WAICHighlights/20260717/bf06ab51a50a43a58e1d1c63855df461.html
- The Next Web (2026). 29 countries sign a treaty to establish the World AI Cooperation Organization. July 2026. thenextweb.com/news/china-world-ai-cooperation-organization-waico-signed