Ep 85 - China’s approach to AI in the Global South: selling the razor blades, not the razor

Xi Jinping’s recent diplomatic tour across the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Kyrgyzstan, and Egypt signals a strategic effort to cultivate parallel governance architectures and leverage Global South grievances against Western-led institutions. Rather than seeking global hegemony, China aims to secure its periphery and expand its influence through multilateral forums like BRICS, which serve as vital platforms for expressing dissatisfaction with the existing international order. While China’s military power projection remains limited, its technological expansion—particularly in AI—presents a formidable challenge to U.S. dominance. By offering open-weight models and integrated service ecosystems, China provides developing nations with flexible, cost-effective alternatives to Western-centric tech stacks. This competition is increasingly defined by B2B integration and local infrastructure partnerships, as countries prioritize pragmatic economic and security engagement over binary alignment with either the United States or China.