The U.S. Department of State on Friday formally launched the “Pax Silica” initiative, a nine-nation strategic partnership aimed at securing global supply chains for semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), critical minerals and supporting infrastructure. The inaugural summit brought together representatives from the U.S. South Korea, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, Israel and Singapore, with guest contributions from Taiwan, the European Union, Canada and the OECD.

According to the State Department, Pax Silica is designed to reduce “coercive dependencies,” protect sensitive technologies foundational to AI and ensure that next-generation digital infrastructure is developed within