State opens Pax Silica summit touting nine more signatories

Senior State Department officials on Thursday opened a Pax Silica summit touting nine new members and the potential for expanded cooperation on artificial intelligence and its supply chain – including critical minerals. “This week we've signed nine new signatories to the Pax Silica declaration : Argentina, Germany, the Netherlands, Chile, Costa Rica, Greece, Kazakhstan, Panama, and the European Union,” Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said at the start of the two-day summit, adding: “we look forward to signing even more in the near future.” That declaration says the partners “believe that economic value and growth will flow through and across all levels of the global AI supply chain, driving historic opportunity and demand for energy, critical minerals, manufacturing, technological hardware, infrastructure, and new markets not yet invented.” Landau and Jacob Helberg, under secretary of State for economic affairs and architect of the Pax Silica effort, spoke on Thursday before the summit with what Helberg said is “a coalition representing more than 30 governments and economies, including the observer nations joining us today.” “AI has already reshaped how we negotiate and how we align supply chains with our partners,” Landau said, addressing representatives of Pax Silica participants. “We’re concluding economic security zone agreements with partners around the world, which will allow allied supply chains and manufacturers to level the playing field. We didn't seek a world where every supply chain is a pressure point and every dependency a potential weapon. The answer is to build a new economic order with partners who trust each other, and it's in this spirit, I'm delighted to welcome all of you today.” On Wednesday, Helberg touted the decision by the EU, as well as Germany and Greece, to join the effort, which he said will bring “advanced mobile communications, AI, and critical mineral capabilities into our growing network.” “This is what collective economic security looks like,” he said in a post on X . “Not dependency. Not vulnerability. Partnership.” In his remarks, Helberg said, “Many of our governments will sign the Declaration on AI Opportunity, a shared commitment to pro-growth AI policies, trusted technology ecosystems, resilient supply chains, and investment in the infrastructure needed to power the AI economy.” “The declaration reflects a simple but important idea: Governments should not approach AI primarily through the lens of restriction,” he said. “We should approach it through the lens of opportunity ... innovation, entrepreneurship, investment, and technological leadership remain the surest path to broad-based prosperity.” Helberg also announced an effort called Pax Pass, which he called “an ambitious new platform that has the potential to transform how trusted partners move the critical goods that power the AI economy by combining cargo verification, AI-powered risk assessment and pre-approved expedited processing for trusted shipments.” Pax Pass will “reduce friction, strengthen supply chain resilience, and accelerate trust,” he said, adding that the U.S. would commit $50 million in foreign assistance funding to develop and deploy the system. He also used the event to launch Foundry School, which he called “a workforce development initiative built in partnership with Stanford to equip entrepreneurs, engineers, and advanced manufacturing leaders across the Pax Silica economies.” -- Mariam Baksh ( mbaksh@iwpnews.com )