Pax Silica

by Michael Novick, Anti-Racist Action Los Angeles/People Against Racist Terror (ARA-LA/PART)

     Talk about Orwellian Double-Speak. Pax Silica is a US-led initiative to put Artificial Intelligence, which is still primarily driven by military and surveillance tech, at the center of an international geo-strategic economic development and national security alliance directed at countering China and protecting US economic, political and military dominance in the second quarter of the 21st Century. It is being labeled as a mechanism of “pax” –peace — when it is in fact a stratagem of a system that is addicted to war and engaged in war.

     Tellingly, at the Pax Silica declaration on the US State Department website, the US is not listed as a signatory — because the Pax Silica is a US-initiated and directed project to which its vassals and allies have signed on. (See: https://www.state.gov/pax-silica/) The declaration states, in part: “We recognize that the technological revolution in AI is accelerating, increasingly reorganizing the world economy, and reshaping global supply chains. We believe that economic value and growth will flow through and across all levels of the global AI supply chain, driving historic opportunity and demand for energy, critical minerals, manufacturing, technological hardware, infrastructure, and new markets not yet invented.

     “In this spirit, we declare our shared vision to deepen our economic partnership through shared efforts on investment security practices, infrastructure, and incentives. We encourage efforts to partner on strategic stacks of the global technology supply chain, including, but not limited to, software applications and platforms, frontier foundation models, information connectivity and network infrastructure, compute and semiconductors, advanced manufacturing, transportation logistics, minerals refining and processing, and energy. We believe in mobilizing the immense creative and financial power of private industry and entrepreneurship ….We seek scalable approaches and solutions to supply chain security by mobilizing the complementary industrial and technological strengths of strategic companies and firms from our respective economies.

     “We understand the importance of addressing non-market practices that undermine innovation and fair competition. We believe that coordination is essential to protect private investment from the market distortions of overcapacity and unfair dumping practices, and to preserve a level playing field for innovation and growth. We understand the importance of cooperation on the enforcement of our respective policies to protect sensitive technologies and critical infrastructure from undue access, influence, or control.  In this spirit, we intend to further strengthen economic and national security cooperation, including taking complementary actions as appropriate to address non-market policies and practices and enhancing investment security.”

     In Europe, Pax Silica is explicitly connected to NATO, as was made clear in Marco Rubio’s recent visit to Sweden, where the Pax Silica connection was defined as based in Sweden’s new membership in the NATO military alliance (giving the lie to Trump’s claims or threats to leave or destroy NATO). See: https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2026/05/secretary-of-state-marco-rubio-and-swedish-foreign-minister-maria-malmer-stenergard-at-the-united-states-sweden-technology-prosperity-deal-signing-ceremony/

      Sweden’s foreign minister Stenergard declared, “Dear Secretary Rubio, dear Marco, it’s such a pleasure to welcome you to Helsingborg and the NATO Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.  But right now, we are here to celebrate a milestone in our bilateral relation by signing a Technology Prosperity Deal… Our bilateral ties are strong and we are deepening our cooperation in key areas.  In just the past year, Sweden has joined NATO, opened consulates general in both Houston and San Francisco, signed a bilateral defense cooperation agreement, and joined the U.S. flagship initiative Pax Silica.

     “Today we are taking another step forward.  This Technology Prosperity Deal will unlock new potential for our shared security and prosperity.  By building on our common interests and complementary strengths, this memorandum will deepen cooperation between our companies and bolster economic growth.  Whether it’s AI, connectivity, defense innovation, or space, we are stronger when we work together.”

      Rubio echoed her: “So impressed with [Sweden], and really, just in the context of NATO, a model Ally, but a country we’ve [been] working with very closely for a long time beyond NATO.  …This is a very creative and innovative society… – you were also the first ones to sign Pax Silica – it shows that we’re going to build what is already a shared legacy and history of cooperation in the fields of technology and innovation to become even more competitive in the years to come. All these cutting-edge industries, …whether it’s biotechnology, whether it’s artificial intelligence, telecommunications, …I think it’s just going to make us both – both of our countries and the broader West and really the world – more competitive, more innovative, …to solve some of the most challenging problems that mankind faces, but also to the benefit of our peoples, our countries, and our economies.”

Israel’s genocidal military operations against Palestinians in Gaza and elsewhere are powered by drones and A-I surveillance.

      In the so-called Middle East, Pax Silica is centered on the Israeli military-industrial-intelligence-surveillance complex, which is why Trump is so intent on bringing all the Arab and Muslim countries in the region into the Abraham Accords, under which the United Arab Emirates and a number of other countries have already “normalized” relations with the Zionist settler-colonial apartheid state. This has brought a flood of Arab investment into those Israeli tech firms. Emulating the Emirates and a number of other wealthy but under-populated Arab regimes (such as Saudi Arabia), Israel is now importing labor from South and Southeast Asia, Malaysia and the Philippines. In the process, it has rendered the colonized Palestinian labor, on which it previously relied, redundant or superfluous. This has intensified and promoted the US-backed genocide and ethnic expulsions of the Palestinians from Gaza and even the West Bank. The Israeli flag was prominent at the recent Pax Silica gathering that the US held. The extension of A-I from military to domestic economic applications, and the attendant replacement of human intellectual and physical labor with robotic replacement portends further genocidal elimination of “superfluous” human populations elsewhere in the imperial core countries, including especially the US, where genocide has always been at the base of economic development.

The Israeli military’s drone fleet has used AI-driven mass surveillance tools to become a “highly effective target and intel generator” during the genocide in Gaza and war on Lebanon, Haaretz reported on 5 June, citing internal military documents. Dozens of unmanned Israeli surveillance and strike drones have been flying around the clock over both Lebanon and Gaza since October 2023, using AI to identify targets and direct fire for Israel’s air and ground forces, the documents show. Despite the alleged “cease-fires” the US brokered, first for Gaza and then for the joint US-Israeli attacks on Iran and Lebanon, the A-I guided violence continues.

The proposed National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2027 underscores the centrality of Israel’s A-I and other military tech to the global US empire by proposing an integration of the US and Israeli militaries, especially in regards to A-I, weapons development, and cyber warfare capabilities. In Section 224, it proposes:

SEC. 224 

UNITED STATES–ISRAEL DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY COOPERATION INITIATIVE.

 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Defense shall designate an executive agent, as such term is defined in Department of Defense Directive 5101.01 (relating to DoD Executive Agent, issued February 7, 2022), responsible for synchronizing cooperative efforts between the United States and Israel, to expand and accelerate bilateral defense technology research, development, testing, evaluation, integration, and industrial cooperation, by— (1) identifying jointly developed or Israeli-origin technologies with operational utility for potential integration into United States systems and programs of record; (2) ensuring collaborative research initiatives involving government, private sector, and academic institutions in the United States and Israel, is done in a manner that protects sensitive technology and information and the national security interests of the United States and Israel; (3) facilitating the transition of technologies from research and development into procurement and acquisition pathways; (4) establishing frameworks for joint ventures, licensing agreements, and United States-based co-production or manufacturing partnerships with Israeli industry; (5) coordinating with relevant Department of Defense components, including the Irregular Warfare Technical Support Directorate, capability development and innovation divisions, the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, the Defense Innovation Unit, the United States-Israel Operations Technology Working Group, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Missile Defense Agency, the United States Space Command, the military departments, and other Department of Defense entities, as appropriate, to align efforts and avoid duplication; and (6) promoting joint training exercises and information-sharing mechanisms to enhance operational readiness to deploy jointly developed technologies. 

 (b) COOPERATIVE EFFORTS.—The synchronized co operative efforts under subsection (a) may be carried out through the following domains: (1) Counter-Unmanned Systems including aerial, maritime, and ground platforms. (2) Anti-tunneling and subterranean threats. (3) Missile and air defense technologies. (4) Artificial intelligence, quantum, machine learning, and autonomous systems. (5) Directed energy and advanced sensing. (6) Cyber defense, electronic warfare, and digital resilience. (7) Biotechnology, biomanufacturing, and medical defense. (8) Network integration, data fusion, and contested logistics. (9) Defense industrial base cooperation, manufacturing, and co-production. (10) Other emerging technologies as jointly agreed by the United States and Israel. 

… (e) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter until 2030, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report on implementa tion of the cooperative efforts described in subsection (a). Each such report shall include— (1) a description of activities conducted; (2) an assessment of progress made in advancing shared national security interests; (3) an assessment of collaboration with other relevant Federal programs;  (4) a description of technologies transitioned into United States acquisition programs or fielded systems; (5) a description of partnerships established with United States and Israeli industry; and (6) recommendations for future opportunities to promote the long-term integration of joint capabili ties between the United States and Israel. 

 …(g) PUBLIC TRANSPARENCY.—The Secretary of Defense shall make available on a publicly accessible website of the Department of Defense periodic, unclassified updates, to the maximum extent practicable, on the synchronized cooperative efforts carried out under subsection (a), including a description of how these efforts contribute to United States technological and military supremacy. Such updates shall be made in a manner that ensures that classified information or other information that would compromise operational security, export controls, or sensitive technology are not release

Many other highly objectionable sections of the NDAA eleborate further on the Israeli role, for example:

SUBTITLE C—MATTERS RELATING TO ISRAEL

Sec. 1221—Extension of War Reserve Stockpile Authority for Israel 

 This section would extend the existing War Reserve Stockpile Authority for Israel established by section 12001(d) of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2005 (Public Law 108-287) to January 1, 2029. 

 Sec. 1222—United States-Israel Subterranean Cooperation 

 This section would modify section 1279 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 (Public Law 114-92) to extend the authority for the Secretary of Defense to conduct collaborative research, development, testing, and evaluation of anti-tunnel capabilities with Israel through December 31, 2029. This section would also expand the authority to include subterranean threats of all types. 

 Sec. 1223—United States-Israel Cooperation to Counter Unmanned Systems in All Warfighting Domains 

 This section would modify section 1278 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116-92) to extend the authority for the Secretary of Defense to conduct collaborative research, development, testing, and evaluation of technologies to counter unmanned systems with Israel through December 31, 2029.

The full text of the draft NDAA proposal is here:

https://armedservices.house.gov/uploadedfiles/fy27_ndaa_chairmans_mark_-_final.pdf

      In the Asia/Pacific theater, Pax Silica is expressly connected to an effort to encircle China and overcome its technological and diplomatic advances. India (where Rubio went next after Sweden) and the Philippines are two key participants.

      In India, Rubio said: “I’ve spoken … about the strategic alliance between the United States and India and how important that is for our national interest ….  We are two countries who have a strategic interest in ensuring reliable long-term access to critical minerals and supply chains that are important for our innovation economy.  … I think the groundwork was laid for this on the 4th of February when we launched the …critical minerals forum ….  It gained momentum later that month when India signed onto Pax Silica.  It was one of the first and early member and signatories, and now today, because we both have a strategic and shared interest in the fact that vibrant innovation economies such as ours cannot afford to leave the foundational materials of these industries vulnerable to single-source monopolies that could deny us these things – not just in a time of conflict but as a leverage point contrary to our sovereign national interests.” See: https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2026/05/secretary-of-state-marco-rubio-and-indian-external-affairs-minister-subrahmanyam-jaishankar-at-the-signing-of-a-critical-minerals-framework/

Jacob Halberg, the Under-Secretary of State for Economic Affairs made the targeting of China clear at a reception in New Clark City, Luzon, the Philippines, as that country joined the “Pax Silica” initiative last month. See: https://www.state.gov/releases/under-secretary-for-economic-affairs/2026/05/under-secretary-jacob-helberg-visits-the-philippines-planned-economic-security-zone/

     “When people hear the words AI supply chain, they think of computer chips. But the chips are only the tip of a very long tail. The chain runs on thousands of inputs. It runs on the precision motors, rare-earth magnets, packaging and testing that turns a slice of silicon into something a buyer can plug in, moldings, plastics, and so much more. For each of those parts, our position today is unacceptably over-concentrated,” Halberg said (not mentioning the human labor inputs).

     “This is not a theoretical point,” he continued. “American firms are losing weeks of production to customs delays that nobody will explain. Orders placed in good faith are cancelled, and no reason is given. A single notice from an office in a far-away capital can shut down a metal the whole industry depends on. We have watched it happen — with rare earths, with gallium, with germanium, with graphite. Rules invented on a Friday and enforced on a Monday. That is not the behavior of a market.

     “When ninety percent of a critical input comes from one country, you do not have a supply chain. You have a hostage chain.

     “And the timing could hardly be worse. The build-out of artificial intelligence is creating a surge in demand at every level of the chain — chips, of course, but also metals, magnets, motors, packaging, test capacity, actuators, energy, etc. Growth on that scale requires certainty of supply. The present arrangement is already failing today. And it is entirely ill-equipped for the future bearing down on us.

     “As President Trump’s National Security Strategy makes clear, securing our supply chains is a strategic priority of the Trump administration and is a centerpiece of the State Department’s Pax Silica initiative.

     “We are committed to pursuing this objective in our own distinctly American way, which will be sharply different than China’s Belt and Road Initiative.”

     Tellingly, New Clark City is a tech-oriented development by the Filipino “Bases Conversion and Development Authority” (BCDA) under Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., son of the former US-backed dictator of the Philippines. After the “people’s power” movement toppled the elder Marcos and his wife Imelda (she of 1000-shoe collection), a number of US bases in the country were shut down. Now they are being repurposed as “A-I native” technology hubs reconnected to the US military through private corporations. Tens of thousands of Filipinos work in digital sweatshops, processing and tagging texts, images and other data elements as feed-stock for A-I, which require that low-paid sweated human labor to function. See: https://antiracist.org/a-i-squared-artificial-intelligence-product-and-tool-of-american-imperialism/

     The site is within the Luzon Economic Corridor and is being designated as a “Golden Node,” or an AI-native investment acceleration hub under the Pax Silica framework. The corridor is a trilateral effort involving the Philippines, U.S. and Japan.

     As Halberg explained, “The Golden Node is not about recreating the factories of the last century. It is about building the manufacturing ecosystems of the next century, AI-native from day one, anchored in the rule of law, and integrated into a network of trusted nations that will define global supply chain resilience for decades to come.” Calling it the Golden Node is an obvious Trump-brand reference.

The rhetoric around US-Filipino “cooperation” on ensuring the A-I supply chain has real world consequences. According to the human rights group Karapatan, the deaths of 19 individuals in Toboso, Negros Occidental, resulted from a massacre rather than an encounter as claimed by the military. According to Oscar Oida’s report in “24 Oras”, friends and relatives of those killed April 19 became emotional. 

In a protest outside the SF headquarters of Scale A-I, one of the US companies involved in the exploitation of Filipino land and labor for A-I development, the International Leagues of Peoples Struggles (ILPS) denounced the killings in an area slated for A-I development and pointed to the transformation of agricultural land in the Philippines for mineral extraction and data centers, both related to A-I.

One of those killed in Negros was Filipino-American Lyle Prijoles, associated with the group Bayan USA. “In some of his trips he helped evacuate flood victims during the typhoons and he helped struggling communities. It was his passion, curiosity, and determination to help more that brought him to Negros,” said his sister Lily, sister of Lyle Prijoles.  You can read more about the massacre of the Negros 19 here:
https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/regions/985835/toboso-negros-19-massacre-karapatan/story/

  Gilding this ‘A-I native’ military-industrial alliance, as Trump has been doing more literally with monuments in DC that he is spending millions to layer with gold veneer, is — to change the metaphor — putting lipstick on a pig. The driving force and major profit centers are not in consumer applications but in military applications — drones, autonomous tanks and warships, command and control technology that feeds data to human and robotic soldiers on the battlefield, cyber warfare — and the connected space-war applications in surveillance satellites, rocketry, and anti-ballistic-missile systems to achieve first strike capability.

      A recent episode of the “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan” potboilers on Amazon, (which pre-figured Trump’s incursion into Venezuela and kidnapping of the President and his wife, a Congressmember,) attributed a clandestine CIA military operation in Venezuela to the discovery of rare earth minerals there. Rare earth minerals have apparently been a motivating factor IRL in the Congo, Ukraine and Afghanistan as well. A-I, despite its pretenses of “machine-learning” or existing in “the cloud”, in fact relies on material inputs of energy, water, critical minerals, and as noted above, sweated human labor primarily in the Global South. It also depends on and reinforces the coercive powers of the state. The controversies erupting over the physical and environmental consequences of the construction of massive data centers across the US also make that clear.

     As The Terminator films, based on a dystopian and genocidal future war of machines against their human creators, repeatedly emphasized, however, “there is no fate but what we make.” Humans have created A-I and all its attendant military technology and granular surveillance and intelligence-gathering capabilities. Capitalism and its logic are not inexorable forces of nature but are the product of human actions and choices. If we take back our power and agency from the war-makers and tech broligarchs, we can shape a different, more humane and ecological future.