China Offers BRICS an Alliance to Boost AI and Leverage the ‘Fear’ That Will Slow US Tech Firms

Source: Vozpópuli | Original Published At: 2026-09-14 02:45:00 UTC

Key Points

• At the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, China proposed creating an Open Source AI Zone for BRICS countries.
• The initiative would transfer code, foundational models and intelligent manufacturing capabilities to developing countries.
• China positioned the proposal as an alternative to centralized, license-based US software models and to sanctions pressures.
• US AI leaders including OpenAI and Anthropic have called for a coordinated pause in frontier model development over unresolved safety risks.
• The Trump administration and congressional leaders have rejected a mandatory pause, arguing it would concede technological leadership to China.
• China's DeepSeek open models have shown that optimized software can compete with US proprietary systems despite semiconductor export controls.