In July 2026, the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, himself a Portuguese diplomat, issued a stark warning from Shanghai at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC): artificial intelligence must not become the exclusive playground of a handful of wealthy nations or Silicon Valley giants. "AI can be one of the greatest opportunities for humanity in the 21st century, but it could also be one of its greatest risks," Guterres said in his keynote address. "Technology must serve people, not the other way around."
Why This Matters
• New global AI body launched: On July 16, 2026, 29 countries—including Brazil, Russia, and Indonesia—signed the founding agreement for the World AI Cooperation Organization (Waico), headquartered in Shanghai.
• Competing governance framework: China's president Xi Jinping used his first-ever WAIC appearance to position Beijing as the champion of "multilateral cooperation," directly challenging Western-led AI governance models.
• Portugal caught in the divide: As an EU member state, Portugal is bound by the EU AI Act, but faces potential conflicts with the alternative framework being promoted through Waico.
• Guterres demands concrete action: The UN chief called for a global AI fund and open-source models accessible to developing nations, warning that one-third of humanity remains offline.
The Portuguese Diplomat's Pitch for AI Democracy
Speaking in Shanghai, Guterres did not mince words. His core concern? Concentration of power. Right now, the capacity for advanced AI development—supercomputers, specialized chips, data lakes, technical talent—remains clustered in the United States and China. Meanwhile, much of the Global South lacks reliable electricity, let alone high-speed internet or compute infrastructure (the processing power needed to run AI systems).
Guterres laid out what he sees as the practical remedy: open-source AI models that poorer countries can adapt, affordable computing capacity, and training programs for local workforces. He also called for a global AI fund to finance infrastructure in the developing world and a global network for capacity-building in AI skills and deployment.
"We need technology that is built with developing countries, for developing countries," Guterres said, framing the issue not as charity but as a prerequisite for sustainable global development.
Portugal's Position: EU Member in a Fracturing Global Order
For Portugal, the significance of the Shanghai developments lies in the emerging geopolitical fracture forming around AI governance. Portugal operates as an EU member state, bound by the EU AI Act, which entered into force in 2024 and is now being implemented in phases. That regulation takes a risk-based approach, banning "unacceptable risk" systems (such as social scoring by governments) and imposing strict requirements on "high-risk" applications like hiring algorithms or medical diagnostics.
Guterres' speech in Shanghai underscores the collision between two fundamentally different approaches. The West is pursuing rules-based frameworks rooted in human rights and transparency. China, through Waico, is offering a multilateral alternative that emphasizes sovereignty, non-interference, and "people-centered" development—language that appeals to countries wary of Western regulatory export.
Portugal has no direct stake in the new Shanghai-based organization—in fact, Waico's 29 founding members notably exclude all EU member states, the United States, Japan, and other Western democracies. The signatories are dominated by nations aligned with or friendly to Beijing:
• Latin America: Brazil, Cuba, Venezuela
• Africa: South Africa, Algeria, Cameroon, Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Senegal, Zambia
• Asia-Pacific: China, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan
• Central Asia & Middle East: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Oman
• Eastern Europe: Russia, Belarus, Serbia
• Central America: Nicaragua
The organization's founding charter commits members to the principles of the UN Charter and pledges to promote "beneficial, safe, and fair" AI development. It will be funded by annual member contributions and voluntary donations.
What This Means for Portugal and Portuguese Businesses
The practical risk for Portugal? Fragmentation. If the world splits into competing AI governance blocs, Portuguese companies and researchers may face interoperability challenges (difficulty making systems work together), conflicting compliance burdens, and market access restrictions. The country's thriving tech startup scene—which has attracted significant venture capital in recent years—could find itself navigating a bifurcated global landscape.
Regulatory Divergence
Companies doing business with Waico member states may face conflicting obligations. For example, China's domestic AI rules emphasize content control and state oversight, while the EU prioritizes fundamental rights and transparency. Portuguese firms exporting to Asia, Africa, or Latin America will need to understand both frameworks.
Trade and Tech Investment
Portuguese tech firms exporting to non-Western markets may need dual compliance strategies. Startups seeking investment from Chinese venture capital (which has flowed into European tech sectors in recent years) should anticipate heightened scrutiny from EU authorities under foreign investment screening rules.
Energy and Sustainability Advantage
Guterres raised an issue rarely discussed: AI's exploding energy footprint. Training a single large language model can consume as much electricity as hundreds of homes use in a year. Data centers powering AI inference (the process of running AI models to generate predictions or responses) are projected to account for 3-4% of global electricity demand by 2030.
Guterres demanded full carbon disclosure and a switch to renewables by 2030—a heavy lift for most data centers today. But here's the advantage for Portugal: the country generates more than half its electricity from renewables and has strong wind and solar capacity. If global AI regulation moves toward mandatory carbon disclosure, Portuguese data centers and AI startups could gain a competitive advantage—or face higher costs if they don't meet emerging standards.
Human Rights and Autonomous Systems
The UN chief was explicit: "Humans must maintain control over any life-or-death decision, and no AI system should be placed in the hands of a child before it is proven safe." Portugal's legal framework, aligned with EU standards, already prohibits certain uses of AI. As autonomous weapons, predictive policing, and algorithmic border control advance globally, expect ongoing debate within the EU about how far prohibitions should extend.
Xi Jinping's Counter-Narrative: Cooperation, Not Hegemony
China's president used his first-ever WAIC appearance to position Beijing as the defender of AI multilateralism. "The development of AI should not be a solo performance by a single country, but a symphony of international cooperation," Xi said, remarks clearly aimed at Washington's export controls on advanced chips and AI technology.
Xi called for joint opposition to "the excessive expansion of the concept of national security in the AI domain" and warned against placing "the security of one country above all others." The subtext: U.S. restrictions on chip exports to China—imposed under current policy—are an attempt to monopolize AI leadership.
He also emphasized the need for laws, technological oversight mechanisms, early-warning systems, and emergency response protocols to ensure AI "remains always under human control," echoing Guterres' concerns but framing the solution in terms of state-led regulation rather than international human rights norms.
The Scale of China's AI Ambitions
According to official Chinese data, the country's domestic AI market reached 1.2 trillion yuan (€154 billion) in 2025 and is projected to grow by more than 30% this year. The World Intellectual Property Organization reports that China led global filings for generative AI patents in 2024-2025, with over 43,000 applications.
The WAIC conference itself, running through July 20, features more than 1,100 companies, 3,000 AI products on display, and 1,400 international guests attending over 140 forums. The scale reflects Beijing's ambition to position Shanghai as a global AI hub—rivaling San Francisco, London, and Singapore.
For context, the European AI market is valued at roughly €50 billion annually, with uneven distribution: northern Europe leads in adoption, while southern Europe (including Portugal) lags in venture funding and research infrastructure.
A Fracturing Global Order: What Portugal Must Do
The Shanghai conference makes one thing clear: there will be no single global framework for AI governance. The West is building one system, rooted in the EU AI Act and aligned with democratic norms. China and its partners are building another, emphasizing sovereignty, state control, and multilateral cooperation without Western oversight.
António Guterres, representing the UN, is trying to bridge the gap—but his tools are limited. The UN has no enforcement power, and its recent Global Dialogue on AI Governance in Geneva drew representatives from both camps but produced no binding commitments.
For Portugal, the practical takeaway is this: prepare for a world where AI operates under different rules depending on where you deploy it. Companies will need legal expertise spanning multiple jurisdictions. Policymakers will need to balance EU alignment with pragmatic engagement in non-Western markets.
What's missing: Portugal's government has not yet publicly commented on how it will navigate this governance split or whether it plans to seek observer status in any alternative governance bodies. As a nation with both EU commitments and strategic interests in Africa, Latin America, and Asia, Portugal's position will be tested as the global AI governance fracture deepens.
Citizens should expect ongoing debate about how much control machines should have—and who gets to decide.
