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U.S., Korea, other partners to launch 'Pax Silica' coalition amid AI race with China

Published: 12 Dec. 2025, 15:01

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau speaks during a reception on the eve of the Pax Silica summit at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington on Dec. 11. [YONHAP]

The United States, along with Korea and other partners, will launch a "Pax Silica" partnership this week for cooperation on AI, critical minerals and other key technologies, the U.S. State Department said Thursday, as it seeks to counter China's growing heft in the fields.

U.S. Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg and representatives from Korea, Japan, Israel, Australia and Singapore will inaugurate Pax Silica by signing a declaration on Friday, it said, stressing the initiative aims to reduce "coercive" dependencies and protect materials and capabilities foundational to AI.

Pax Silica draws from the Latin word pax, which means peace, stability and long-term prosperity, while "silica" refers to the compound refined into silicon, a chemical element key to the computer chips that enable AI, the department explained.

The U.S.-led partnership comes as the Donald Trump administration is pushing to enhance the global "AI dominance" of the United States, ensure stable supply chains for critical minerals and counter China's control over those strategically vital resources, amid an intensifying rivalry between the two superpowers.

Also on Friday, the United States will host the inaugural Pax Silica summit to discuss cooperation in strengthening supply chain security and advancing efforts for "trusted" technology ecosystems, and opportunities for cooperation on related fields.

"Our goal is not to close ourselves off from the rest of the world, but to build and deploy supply chains and information networks free from undue influence or control by countries or entities of concern," Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said during a reception on the eve of the summit.

"Like the eras of peace and prosperity that came before, we seek to establish a durable economic order that underwrites an AI-driven era of prosperity across our partner countries," he added.

At the reception, Helberg and Japanese Ambassador to the United States Shigeo Yamada signed a joint preamble to the forthcoming Pax Silica declaration, hailing what the department called a "new geopolitical consensus": Economic security is national security, and national security is economic security.

"Today, we sign the Pax Silica preamble, a shared statement of purpose behind a new kind of partnership, securing the supply chains and trusted innovation ecosystems that will define prosperity and security in the decades ahead," Helberg said.

"This is about protecting openness without being naive, accelerating innovation without compromising security and ensuring that the technologies shaping the future are anchored in our country and countries we trust and can rely on."

The department said that the new initiative aims to respond to growing demand from partners to deepen economic and technology cooperation, the understanding that AI represents a transformative force for long-term prosperity, increasing risks from "coercive" dependencies and recognition that trustworthy systems are essential for safeguarding security and prosperity.

It did not call China by name as it addresses AI-related issues.

The initiative comes amid growing concerns over China's moves to tighten export controls on rare earth elements key to the manufacturing of military and electronic equipment.

Helberg has directed U.S. diplomats in Washington and overseas to operationalize the upcoming summit's discussions through the identification of infrastructure projects and the coordination of economic security practices, the department said.

Yonhap