Xi Jinping calls for a “consensus-based global AI governance framework” and says China “will be a pioneer in establishing a BRICS AI open-source community”
China will take the lead to help foster artificial-intelligence collaboration and development among developing countries …
CNBCJoanna Ossinger
Context & Ripple Effects
China had already paired open-source advocacy with a pledge to help the Global South build AI capabilities at the World AI Conference in July, framing unequal access as an injustice. Reporting in July characterized the wider effort as using open models and training to build an alternative AI order.
The BRICS proposal adds an institutional vehicle to a governance agenda Xi had advanced at APEC in 2025 through a proposed World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization. It ties model access, skills development and rule-setting more closely together.
First-order effects
China’s stated leadership role gives BRICS members a focal point for AI collaboration centered on open-source models and development support.
The call for a consensus-based framework places China’s preferred governance language alongside its offer of AI capacity-building for developing countries.
Second-order effects
BRICS governments seeking AI capability gain a prospective channel for shared models, training and policy coordination, rather than relying solely on outside providers’ ecosystems.
AI governance debates become more closely linked to access: countries evaluating frameworks will also weigh which partners provide models and technical capacity.
Third-order effects
If BRICS turns the proposal into sustained shared infrastructure and standards work, AI influence may increasingly be organized through competing sovereignty-oriented blocs rather than a single global governance process.
Open-source AI becomes a state-backed instrument of industrial and diplomatic policy, with governance arguments shaped by who controls access to usable models and skills.
The trend: AI governance is becoming a contest over both safety rules and the distribution of models, compute and technical capability across the Global South.
President Xi Jinping attended Session II of the 18th BRICS Summit and delivered an important statement. President Xi proposed five initiatives for deepening BRICS cooperation: 1️⃣ The open source and inclusive AI initiative. China will be a pioneer in establishing a BRICS AI open…
President Xi Jinping attended Session II of the 18th BRICS Summit and delivered an important statement. President Xi proposed five initiatives for deepening BRICS cooperation: 1️⃣ The open source and inclusive AI initiative. China will be a pioneer in establishing a BRICS AI open…
Again China will 1) sign nothing or 2) sign some vague, non-enforceable BS that they will go back on as soon as they can while we tie ourselves in knots. China is on pace to lead in robotics, drones, world models, energy and soon they will have chip independence. The only thing w…
I uh... think their strat with open weights is to saturate BRICS with compute and cyberweapon models. Wait for the US to ban open weights cyber models, centralizing predictably, then do a relentless distributed decapitation swarm when the defenses drop.
Open source AI also threatens China's political legitimacy. Of course they want to regulate it. East and west are aligned on this issue. I see it now OSS AI is an existential threat to our second estate nationstate. In the hands of commoners it threatens to upend the entire syste…
China's President Xi Jinping, speaking at the BRICS summit in New Delhi, proposes five initiatives on AI, trade facilitation, digital industry, intelligent manufacturing and science talent: