The United States is attempting to transform Pax Silica, its AI supply chain alliance, into a broader economic security pact to protect American technological leadership. A draft declaration discussed by EU ambassadors on Wednesday states that "economic security is fundamental to national security, and that no nation can be secure without securing its critical systems and technologies from those that would do it harm." Washington intends to have members of the coalition endorse the declaration at a ceremony in San Francisco this Sunday.
While the EU joined the initiative in June, Washington's latest proposals have revived divisions within the bloc. The proposed declaration calls for a common understanding on protecting sensitive technologies and critical infrastructure by diversifying supply chains and coordinating responses to economic coercion. It argues that durable economic security among trusted partners requires the active promotion of shared innovation and technological leadership.
European concerns stem from the broad definitions of sensitive technologies and critical infrastructure within the text. Some EU member states are demanding objective criteria, fearing the current wording would grant Washington the discretion to impose restrictions and pressure allies to follow suit. This follows previous friction when the Biden administration introduced export controls under its AI Diffusion Framework that would have limited access to advanced AI chips for several EU countries.
A second dispute involves the terminology regarding superintelligence. The Trump administration is pushing the concept of superintelligence, while the European Commission has proposed an explanatory note clarifying that the EU understands the term to mean artificial intelligence. This distinction is a matter of legal certainty for Brussels, as AI is already defined in the Artificial Intelligence Act.
Washington has long opposed the AI Act and is now proposing a Pax Silica working group to explore innovation-friendly regulatory approaches. While EU governments have given the Commission a mandate to negotiate the content of the declaration, the Commission may not receive a mandate to sign the document in time for the San Francisco ceremony.
