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Russia and China have joined more than 20 other countries in establishing a new international organization aimed at coordinating efforts to develop artificial intelligence and promote its use in a human-centered approach.
The new organization is called the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO) , an intergovernmental body headquartered in Shanghai, China. Its founding members include 29 countries, among them ten African nations and twelve Asian countries, as well as Russia, China, Belarus, Serbia, Cuba, Brazil, and Venezuela.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres witnessed the signing ceremony of the agreement on Thursday. According to Xinhua News Agency, the organization aims to uphold the principles of the United Nations and promote the shared benefits of artificial intelligence development, while also establishing global governance that ensures this technology is safe, equitable, and beneficial to humanity.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Grigorenko stated, "We consistently call for transparent regulations governing cross-border technologies." The agreement was signed on behalf of Russia by Minister of Digital Development and Communications Maksut Shadayev, who, along with Grigorenko, oversees the digital transformation program for the Russian economy.
The rapid development of artificial intelligence has sparked growing concerns, even within major Western technology companies. In January, Anthropic CEO Dario Amode warned that these technologies could lead to serious risks, ranging from widespread job losses and the rise of authoritarian regimes to existential threats to humanity.
Potential risks also include AI-powered cyberattacks on critical infrastructure, privacy violations, and the use of technology for mass surveillance and propaganda.
WAICO is not the first international initiative in this field, as the United States announced last year the “Pax Silica” project, which aims to create a global technology supply chain that supports the development of artificial intelligence technologies.
In recent years, China has transformed into one of the major powers in the field of artificial intelligence, driven by a rapid pace of research and development, while adopting an approach based on international cooperation rather than technological division.
Chinese companies have launched advanced models such as DeepSeek, Qwen, GLM and Kimi, and have adopted a competitive pricing policy and made parts of their technologies open source, which has allowed researchers and companies around the world to benefit from and develop them.
Conversely, Beijing faces increasing US restrictions on access to advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence chips. In September 2025, the US Commerce Department blacklisted 32 foreign entities, including 23 Chinese companies, for their alleged involvement in the manufacture of advanced chips.
Washington has also imposed restrictions on exports of advanced artificial intelligence chips, such as Nvidia's H200 chip, citing national security concerns. In response, Beijing accuses the United States of politicizing trade and disrupting global supply chains, prompting it to accelerate the development of its own domestic AI chip industry.
Russia is one of the countries that has developed its own large language models, such as YandexGPT and Alisa AI from Yandex, in addition to GigaChat developed by Sberbank.
Russian companies have also invested in practical AI-based solutions, particularly in healthcare, financial services, education, transportation, and digital government. The Russian healthcare sector currently uses more than 60 AI-powered diagnostic services to assist doctors in analyzing medical images and diagnosing diseases.
President Vladimir Putin announced last month that Russia intends to contribute to a global initiative to develop artificial intelligence, stressing that the country has important assets, including a strong scientific base, an advanced education system, and sufficient energy resources to support data centers and high-performance computing.
Grigorenko stressed that Russia’s participation in the new organization “will contribute to strengthening global technological dialogue, and will also help to promote Russian innovations and expertise in international markets.”
