China ready to take control as US and UK back out of AI Action Summit statement

A leadership vacuum in artificial intelligence governance following a global forum could be filled by China, experts say

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China could take command of global AI governance after US Vice-President J.D. Vance as well as the UK declined to sign the declaration out of the AI Action Summit held in Paris, France, earlier this month. Photo: AFP

Published: 12:00pm, 22 Feb 2025Updated: 5:13pm, 22 Feb 2025

China could fill a leadership vacuum left by the United States and Britain after they refused to sign a global joint declaration on “inclusive and sustainable” artificial intelligence (AI) at a recent Paris summit, analysts have said.

Meanwhile, they added, countries in the Global South were unlikely to take sides in any AI rivalry between China and the US.

Signed by more than 60 countries, including China, the statement of the AI Action Summit sought to establish some safeguards for the rapidly evolving technology, pledging to ensure AI is “open, inclusive, transparent, ethical, safe, secure and trustworthy”.

Both the US and the UK declined to sign the document, with the British government saying “national security and global governance concerns” prevented it from accepting the communique.

The US did not officially explain its decision, but in his speech to the summit, Vice-President J.D. Vance criticised excessive regulations that could “kill a transformative industry”.

Madeline Carr, a global politics and cybersecurity professor from University College London, pointed out that Britain, host of the first ever AI Safety Summit in Bletchley Park in 2023, had prioritised its alliance with the US in this move.