News Summary

• Washington is preparing to hand its partners an ultimatum, and it is not a subtle one.
• According to a draft State Department letter reported by Reuters, the US is about to tell friendly nations they must choose between the American and Chinese artificial intelligence ecosystems.
• The mechanism doing the work here is Pax Silica, an initiative launched last year to lock down supply chains for AI models, semiconductors and critical minerals.
• The carrot is access to shared AI investment opportunities reserved for members.
• The stick is exclusion for any country that also signs up to China’s competing framework.