US Leads Pax Silica Initiative to Secure Global Silicon Supply Chain

The United States and eight partner countries have launched the Pax Silica Initiative to build a secure and innovation-driven global silicon and AI supply chain. 

The initiative brings together Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. They plan to coordinate on critical minerals, semiconductors, AI infrastructure, energy, logistics, and manufacturing. 

The initiative was launched at the inaugural Pax Silica Summit and outlined the coordination, why it is needed, and what actions will follow. 

Pax Silica leaders said the goal is to reduce coercive dependencies, support trusted technology, protect critical materials, and enable partner nations to develop and deploy AI at scale. The US said countries have “affirmed a shared commitment to pursue projects to jointly address AI supply chain opportunities and vulnerabilities”.

The initiative responds to rising demand from partner countries for deeper economic and technology cooperation with the ỦS. Officials emphasised that AI is reshaping the world economy and will drive new demand for minerals, semiconductors, energy systems, and infrastructure. 

Partner countries plan to work together on semiconductor design, fabrication and packaging, logistics, compute systems, minerals refining, and power generation. They will also explore joint ventures and co-investment opportunities, and seek to protect sensitive technologies from “undue access or control by countries of concern”.

The United States said its diplomats have been instructed to turn summit discussions into specific actions. According to the release, the US Under Secretary of State for economic growth, energy, and the environment, Jacob Helberg, has directed teams “to operationalise this summit’s discussions through identification of infrastructure projects and the coordination of economic security practices”.

The announcement noted that the countries will also “build trusted technology ecosystems, including ICT systems, fibre optic cables, data centres, foundational models and applications.”

Pax Silica takes its name from the Latin pax, meaning peace and stability, and silica, the base compound refined into silicon for computer chips. The initiative aims to unite countries that host major technology companies and investors to build a “secure, resilient, and innovation-driven ecosystem” across the global supply chain.