Twenty-nine countries signed an agreement on Thursday to create the World AI Cooperation Organization, an intergovernmental entity intended to advance international collaboration and oversight in artificial intelligence. Delegates from the 29 nations, among them Russia, Belarus, Serbia, Cuba, Brazil and Venezuela, plus ten African and twelve Asian states, signed as founding members. The group’s headquarters will be based in Shanghai, according to Chinese state media. The ceremony took place in Shanghai ahead of the annual World Artificial Intelligence Conference, where Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to present Beijing’s plans for global AI governance. China first suggested the organization at last year’s conference, though formal membership announcements had not occurred until now.
