WAICO: China's proposed AI governance body creates a rival pole to Western-led rules

A newly published academic paper on arXiv (arXiv:2606.23860) provides the first systematic analysis of China's proposed World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO), describing it as the most consequential recent entrant in the global AI governance regime complex. The authors—William Guey, Pierrick Bougault, Wei Zhang, Vitor D. de Moura, and José O. Gomes—code 15 existing international AI governance instruments and institutions across three dimensions: membership admission rules, organizational structure, and policy priorities. They find that WAICO's proposed design uniquely combines three features currently absent in any constituted multilateral body: membership open to all sovereign states, no ideological or regime-type test for entry, and an agenda centered on development and bridging the global capability divide.

In contrast, Western-led bodies (e.g., GPAI, OECD AI Principles) gate membership by shared democratic values and focus on safety, rights, and risk management. UN bodies like UNESCO's AI Ethics Recommendation are open but anchored in human rights. Regional Global South strategies prioritize development but lack standing institutions. The paper argues that WAICO, if established, would anchor a second pole in global AI governance—organized around sovereignty and development rather than rights and safety. The researchers note that the only current occupant of WAICO's intended position is China's earlier 2023 precursor initiative, suggesting a deliberate strategy. They release their full coding dataset and state testable expectations for evaluating WAICO as it takes shape.