The United States expanded its Pax Silica economic security initiative with the addition of Qatar, as U.S. officials continue to signal broader growth of the partnership aimed at artificial intelligence (AI) and supply chain security.
Qatar signed the Pax Silica Declaration on Jan. 12, becoming the eighth country to join the U.S.-led effort. The State Department said the United States welcomed Qatar alongside existing signatories Australia, Israel, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. Additional countries are expected to join.
Pax Silica is the Department of State’s flagship initiative focused on AI and supply chain security, organizing allied and trusted partners around shared strategic assets including compute power, silicon, critical minerals, and energy.
The expansion follows recent public comments by a senior U.S. official indicating that Pax Silica would grow.
On Jan. 8 during a panel discussion at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Jacob S. Helberg, under secretary for economic affairs at the U.S. Department of State, said that the United States planned to announce further expansion of the initiative in the coming weeks.
“Our goal is to make sure that our companies lead on innovation, lead in market share, and have secure supply chains,” Helberg said, describing Pax Silica as a top U.S. priority.
Helberg said the United States has signed critical minerals agreements with more than a dozen countries through the initiative and described Pax Silica as a platform for coordination among governments and companies with shared interests in mineral security and advanced technology.
The initiative is described by the State Department as an economic security coalition designed for the AI era, intended to support competitiveness and economic stability among participating nations.