Pax Silica chips in

Nothing says "peace" quite like building a technology bloc. Pax Silica is said to be Washington's "flagship effort on AI and security initiative," which was unveiled at its inaugural summit on December 11, bringing together the U.S., Japan, the Republic of Korea, the UK, Australia, Israel, Singapore, the UAE, and the Netherlands, with others also in the room. What does "Pax Silica" mean? Well, "pax" is Latin for peace while "Silica" refers to silicon. Put together, it sounds like a gift to global coordination, a positive-sum partnership, as the U.S. puts it, which is not about isolating others. But is that really the case?