China and US push Southeast Asia over their AI blocs. Will it test region’s non-alignment?

ExclusiveChina and US push Southeast Asia over their AI blocs. Will it test region’s non-alignment?Beijing reportedly offers exclusive perks to attract Global South partners while describing the American-led body as exclusionary3-MIN READ3-MIN1 ListenPublished: 11:00pm, 21 Aug 2026Updated: 11:57pm, 21 Aug 2026Southeast Asian leaders have long insisted they will not be forced to pick sides in the great-power rivalry between the US and China. But their posture is about to be further tested.This time, the battleground is AI. While Washington wants the region locked into Pax Silica – its bid to build a China-free Artificial Intelligence supply chain – Beijing wants its neighbours to join China’s own World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation (Waico).Sources told the China-morning-post" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="12558" data-entity-type="organization">South China Morning Post that both powers had in recent months piled pressure on Southeast Asian economies, each trying to draw them into its own AI framework.One source said Chinese officials had heavily lobbied Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) countries to back Waico before it was established last month, telling their counterparts they stood to gain from signing on as founding members, including an offer of “exclusive privileges”.WATCH: Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks at world AI conferenceAnother source said the lobbying had reached senior levels of government, with Beijing pitching its AI organisation as an inclusive body that championed developing economies, in contrast to what it described as an exclusionary American initiative.