China and US push Southeast Asia over their AI blocs. Will it test region’s non-alignment?

Southeast Asian leaders have long insisted they will not be forced to pick sides in the great-power rivalry between the US and China. But their posture is about to be further tested. This time, the battleground is AI. While Washington wants the region locked into Pax Silica - its bid to build a China-free artificial intelligence supply chain - Beijing wants its neighbours to join China's own World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation (Waico). Assoc Prof Dylan Loh of foreign policy at Singapore's NTU, said pressure from Washington and Beijing on Southeast Asia was not new but major powers were now "much more prepared to do so publicly". Framing their memberships in binary terms could complicate the calculus for Southeast Asian countries, forcing them into decisions that risked displeasing one power or the other, he said.

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