State Department’s Jacob Helberg leads US AI diplomacy against China

Jacob Helberg, confirmed as Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs by a 51-47 Senate vote on October 7, 2025, is leading US diplomatic efforts to build AI supply chains that bypass China through a framework called Pax Silica. The coalition targets partnerships with Japan, South Korea, India, the UAE, and Australia, and Helberg has cited Beijing's April 2025 export controls on seven essential elements as evidence for collective action. Helberg, a 36-year-old former Palantir senior adviser who sat on the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission from 2022 to 2024, has described the global AI landscape as a "two-horse race" between the US and China.

State Department’s Jacob Helberg leads US AI diplomacy against China The 36-year-old former Palantir adviser is building a global coalition to break China's grip on critical minerals and AI supply chains The US has a new point person for its tech rivalry with China, and he’s betting that the best way to win an AI race is to make sure your opponent can’t control the track. Jacob Helberg, confirmed as Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs with a razor-thin 51-47 Senate vote on October 7, 2025, is now leading American diplomatic efforts to secure the supply chains that underpin artificial intelligence, from semiconductors to the rare earth elements that go into everything from data center hardware to advanced chips. The Pax Silica playbook Pax Silica, a nod to silicon’s centrality in the digital age, is a diplomatic framework designed to rally key allies around a shared goal: building AI supply chains that don’t run through Beijing. The coalition Helberg is assembling reads like a roster of countries that have reason to be nervous about Chinese economic leverage. Japan, South Korea, India, the UAE, and Australia are all targets for partnership under the initiative. The urgency became concrete in April 2025, when Beijing imposed export controls on seven essential elements, directly squeezing Japan and other US partners who depend on Chinese supplies. Helberg has pointed to those restrictions as Exhibit A for why collective action is necessary. His framing of the global AI landscape is blunt. In public remarks, Helberg has described it as a “two-horse race” between the US and China, while arguing that a positive-sum approach, one that integrates the capabilities of allied nations, gives Washington the better hand. A tech insider turned diplomat At 36, Helberg brings an unusual resume to Foggy Bottom. Before his confirmation, he served as a senior adviser at Palantir, the data analytics company co-founded by Peter Thiel that has deep ties to US defense and intelligence agencies. He also sat on the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission from 2022 to 2024, a congressional body that monitors the national security implications of trade with Beijing. Macro, rates, and crypto—what moved markets and what matters next. Daily. Free. Join 34,000+ readers across crypto, finance, and policy. Earlier in his career, he worked at Google https://cryptobriefing.com/markets/alphabet/ , giving him a front-row seat to how US tech platforms navigate Chinese market dynamics and censorship demands. Helberg has been particularly vocal about India’s role in the emerging order. He has identified the country as a strong counterweight to China’s dominance, citing its massive engineering talent pool as a strategic asset the US should actively cultivate. Recent diplomatic activity backs that up, with US-India collaborations on AI deepening as a practical extension of the Pax Silica vision. Why supply chains are the real battlefield Helberg’s approach shifts the lens to something less glamorous but arguably more important: the physical infrastructure that makes all of it possible. Semiconductors require rare earth elements. Data centers require energy. Advanced manufacturing requires specialized equipment that a handful of countries control. China has spent decades positioning itself as the dominant supplier across several of these categories, and Helberg’s argument is that this dependency represents a national security vulnerability the US can no longer afford to ignore. His strategy encompasses energy security, semiconductor production, and advanced manufacturing as interconnected pillars rather than separate policy domains. Whether the Pax Silica framework can deliver on its ambitions depends on something diplomats have always struggled with: getting sovereign nations with competing interests to coordinate at speed. Japan wants to protect its electronics industry. India wants manufacturing jobs. The UAE wants to be a regional AI hub. Australia wants to monetize its mineral wealth. Helberg’s task is convincing all of them that a shared framework serves each of their individual interests better than bilateral deals with Beijing. Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy https://cryptobriefing.com/editorial-policy/ .