The “Beijing Effect” in AI Regulation

In this paper, the author analyzes the concept of the “Beijing effect” as an alternative to the concept of “digital authoritarianism”. The relevance of the topic stems from the rapid growth of the artificial intelligence (AI) sector and the emergence of various models of its regulation. The paper also analyzes the concept of the Digital Silk Road as a tool through which investments in the economies of other countries are transformed into China’s political influence. The author concludes that there is a transition from hard “lock-in” to soft influence, facilitated by standards and open AI models. The paper shows how China, by financing the digital infrastructure of developing countries, renders their digital sovereignty illusory. The work is valuable for understanding why AI regulation cannot be reduced to laws when the underlying infrastructure is owned by other countries.