29 Countries Agree to Establish World AI Cooperation Organization

Twenty-nine countries have agreed to establish the World AI Cooperation Organization, a China-led initiative signed ahead of the 2026 World AI Conference in Shanghai. China has committed to funding 5,000 AI research projects and training programmes across developing nations over the next five years. If you're building AI tools for emerging markets, China just created a funded pipeline to them—and locked out Western vendors from that funding tier. Your only path into those customers now runs through Chinese partners or you compete on price alone.