China's AI Ecosystem Export: Indonesia Joins Global Scrutiny Amid Tech Dependence Risks

China has entered a new phase of strategic competition by seeking to export its entire artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem, encompassing chips, cloud infrastructure, foundation models, standards, applications, workforce training, and governance. This marks a shift from its previous focus on exporting infrastructure through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to a more consequential domain. The initiative centers on a proposed World AI Cooperation Organization (WAICO), which includes AI application centers, open-source models, technical training, digital standards, and infrastructure assistance. These efforts represent an evolution of Beijing's international strategy, aligning its diplomatic approach with its AI technology stack, built upon the Digital Silk Road. Indonesia, traditionally seeking to remain nonaligned in US-China technology competition, has quickly endorsed Beijing's new AI initiative. Chinese firms such as Alibaba and JD.com have already made substantial investments in Indonesia's largest e-commerce platforms, deepening commercial integration and technological dependence. Huawei's dominant position in Indonesia's and much of the developing world's 5G network infrastructure provides a foundation upon which Beijing can layer AI services and governance institutions. The United States views this Chinese move with seriousness. The US Secretary of State has been working to preserve strategically valuable elements of foreign assistance while shifting towards commercial diplomacy that promotes economic security, technological leadership, and US reindustrialization. It is argued that the US needs to build an integrated AI development strategy that enables trusted partners to develop sovereign AI capabilities while reinforcing US technological leadership. China's AI diplomacy aims to simultaneously achieve several strategic objectives: strengthening domestic technological self-sufficiency, expanding the global market share of Chinese firms, creating long-term dependencies in developing countries, and increasing Beijing's geopolitical influence relative to the United States.