US Shifts AI Strategy: Why Pax Silica Signals a New Global Tech Battle

At a briefing hosted by the Washington Foreign Press Centre, Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg said Pax Silica goes well beyond traditional chip diplomacy and reflects a new consensus in Washington that economic security and national security are inseparable.

"And so through Pax Silica we want to cooperate on economic security practices as well as open new channels for co-investments in fabs, data centres, and refining projects across an allied space," Helberg said.

"Ultimately, we view this as a long-term roadmap to rewire the global economy -- to pour concrete, smelt steel, and rack servers, and build the physical backbone of the 21st century," he told reporters.

Pax Silica initiative brings together an initial group of countries closely tied to semiconductor manufacturing and advanced technology supply chains, including Singapore, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Australia and the United Kingdom.

It is designed to address vulnerabilities exposed by over-concentrated supply chains that underpin everything from consumer electronics and automobiles to cutting-edge AI systems.

Helberg said Pax Silica is anchored in a broader US economic security strategy built around four pillars: rebalancing trade, stabilising conflict zones, reindustrialising the United States, and securing supply chains. Silicon, he stressed, sits at the centre of that effort because it is the foundational input for modern technologies.

"The silicon supply chain is the lifeblood of cutting-edge technologies, from cars to the smartphone industry and artificial intelligence," Helberg said.

Unlike earlier frameworks, such as the Mineral Security Partnership launched under the previous Biden administration, Pax Silica is explicitly supply-side focused, Helberg said. "This is not an initiative focused on the buyers; it started by focusing on the suppliers," he said, adding that the framework creates direct channels of communication with the companies that design, manufacture, and operate global supply chains.

Helberg said the goal is to decentralise production, reduce single points of failure, and build a more transparent and accessible ecosystem for AI-related infrastructure.

"We want to see a vibrant ecosystem of vendors and suppliers for a robust supply chain system across Pax Silica countries," he said in response to a question at the Foreign Press Centre.

According to the US official, the shift to a full-stack approach also reflects Washington's growing concern that leadership in AI will depend not just on advanced chips, but on access to compute, energy, data centres, and reliable logistics.

Responding to a question on export controls and AI competition, Helberg said the United States is clear-eyed about the risks of technology diffusion even as it seeks to expand partnerships with trusted allies.

"The official policy of the US Government (is) to do whatever it takes to win the AI race," he said, noting that innovation and diffusion must be balanced carefully to maintain a competitive edge.

For India, the briefing carried particular significance. Helberg said New Delhi is viewed as a "highly strategic potential partner" on supply chain security and advanced technologies, despite not being part of the initial Pax Silica group. He rejected suggestions that trade tensions were responsible for India's absence.

"We are not conflating those two things," Helberg said, referring to trade arrangements and supply chain security, adding that Washington is in "nearly daily communication" with Indian counterparts and is actively exploring ways to deepen collaboration quickly.

Helberg said he would attend the India AI Impact Summit in February, which he described as an opportunity to identify "tangible milestones" in bilateral cooperation on economic and technology security.

The Pax Silica declaration, Helberg said, marks a turning point in how the United States and its partners view the global technology race. "We believe that economic security is not a line item, but it is now a prerequisite to our national survival," he said.

Pax Silica initiative comes as countries worldwide race to position themselves in the AI economy, where control over compute, energy, and infrastructure is increasingly seen as decisive.

For India, which is seeking to build domestic semiconductor capacity while expanding its role in data centres and AI development, the US shift toward securing the full AI stack underscores both the scale of the challenge and the strategic opportunity ahead.

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- IANS