APEC 21 economies back open-source AI with strong security assurances

CHENGDU, China — Governments are increasingly seeking to control artificial intelligence as companies release more powerful open-source models, according to a new multilateral statement issued by the 21 APEC member economies, including the United States and China.

Key Developments

• The U.S., China, and other APEC economies pledged support for open-source AI development "with strong security assurance."
• The statement comes amid growing efforts by Washington and Beijing to tighten controls on their respective domestic AI capabilities.
• Open-source AI models remain free to download and use.

The "Chengdu Statement" on AI

The APEC members released a "Chengdu statement" on AI that emphasizes respect for "security, data protection and intellectual property rights," while calling for support of open-source development.

The statement, released Thursday, also specifies support for models and projects "that employ strong security assurance through development and deployment."

These details reflect how open-source AI is moving away from its libertarian roots and toward greater state oversight. China has led recent open-source AI development, amid U.S. claims of intellectual property theft.

Contrasting Approaches

Chinese companies such as DeepSeek and GLM 5.2 offer open-source models that are free to download and use. In contrast, U.S. companies such as Anthropic provide only closed, pay-to-use AI models.

Expert Analysis

Winston Ma, adjunct professor of law at New York University, said the statement's "explicit alignment around open-source ecosystems and compute infrastructure" confirms that Asia-Pacific is moving away from closed models toward open-weight systems combined with state-coordinated energy, telecom, and digital infrastructure.

Li Lecheng, China's Minister of Industry and Information Technology, who chaired the leaders' meeting on Thursday, noted that the APEC AI statement is the first to include open-source cooperation at a ministerial level. He said all parties recognized the risks of AI and encouraged dialogue across government, the private sector, and academia to share information on cybersecurity, supply chain resilience, and online scams.

Industry Perspective

"Getting 21 economies, including both China and the United States, to recognize trusted open-source AI as something worth supporting is meaningful," said Wei Sun, principal analyst for artificial intelligence at Counterpoint Research.

"The phrase 'strong security assurance' gives more security-conscious economies room to support open models while still demanding testing, transparency, data protection and deployment controls," she added. "The debate is moving beyond open vs. closed and towards: who can now build an open ecosystem that is also trusted enough for governments and enterprises to deploy."

Looking Ahead

Technology may outpace policy. Janet De Silva, chair of the APEC Business Advisory Council Digital and Innovation Working Group, urged ministers on Thursday to prepare for the quantum computing era.

"We need trusted encryption to ensure the security of our entire financial system, ensuring that quantum computing is not only a security measure but also an opportunity to bring competitiveness," she said.

Li Lecheng, China's Minister of Industry and Information Technology, spoke at a press conference on July 23, 2026, in Chengdu, China, as part of the APEC Digital Weeks.

Evelyn Cheng | CNBC