On July 16, a day before the annual World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, officials from 29 countries signed an agreement establishing a new body: the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO). This composition points quite strongly to an emerging split in AI governance along geopolitical lines. Last year’s proposal formed part of Beijing’s broader Global AI Governance Initiative, which argues that rules should treat development needs as seriously as safety concerns. Either way, the direction is clear: AI governance is no longer confined to occasional summits but is starting to take shape through competing institutions with their own priorities and constituencies. As a consequence, the global architecture of AI governance has just become more complex – and more contested.