U.S. and Israel launch "Pax Silica" framework to cooperate on AI, semiconductors and other critical technologies

“Pax Silica” is a U.S.-led economic‑security initiative to build secure, resilient supply chains for AI and other critical technologies. The new U.S.–Israel joint declaration plugs their bilateral tech partnership into this wider Pax Silica framework.

Concretely, the U.S.–Israel Strategic Partnership on Artificial Intelligence, Research, and Critical Technologies commits both governments to:

• Deepen joint R&D and investment across AI, energy, advanced computing, space, semiconductors, robotics, and materials science.
• Protect sensitive technologies and research, by tightening research‑security cooperation and export‑control enforcement so shared work happens in a “secure and trusted research environment.”
• Develop human capital, including joint training and skills programs and shared platforms for basic and applied AI research.
• Expand semiconductor and robotics cooperation, building on existing chip‑research partnerships between U.S. and Israeli firms and launching new bilateral robotics efforts.
• Coordinate on new energy and materials, e.g., batteries, grid optimization, and next‑generation materials for high‑tech uses.
• Integrate Israel as a ‘Pax Silica node’, meaning Israel’s tech ecosystem is treated as part of the trusted Pax Silica supply‑chain network.

The declaration is non‑binding: it expresses intent, does not create legal obligations or automatic funding, and says any concrete cooperation must comply with each side’s domestic laws and existing international commitments.

More broadly, Pax Silica as a whole commits participating countries to coordinate policies and projects across the full AI/tech “stack” (from critical minerals and energy through fabs, compute, networks, and data centers), to reduce coercive dependencies, address single points of failure, and build “trusted” technology ecosystems together rather than in isolation.

The joint statement does not list every implementing body, but it does specify the main overseer and implies who will carry the work:

• Primary steering body: the U.S.–Israel Joint Economic Development Group (JEDG) is named as the “primary steering committee” to give strategic direction and oversee implementation of the new framework.
• On the U.S. side, Pax Silica overall is coordinated by the State Department’s Under Secretary for Economic Affairs and the Bureau of Economic, Energy, and Business Affairs, working with other economic, technology, and foreign‑policy bureaus and U.S. missions abroad.
• On the Israeli side, implementation will be run through the government ministries represented in the JEDG (historically led by the Ministry of Finance and involving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relevant economic and innovation agencies).
• Private‑sector role: all Pax Silica documents stress that major technology and industrial companies in member countries are expected to be core partners, with governments coordinating projects, co‑investment, and standards rather than building everything directly.

So, in practice, the JEDG sets priorities and monitors progress; relevant U.S. and Israeli economic, science, and technology agencies execute specific programs with heavy participation from private firms in both countries.

“Hardening” supply chains means redesigning them so they’re less fragile and less dependent on risky chokepoints or untrusted actors. In the Pax Silica context for semiconductors, AI compute, and other critical tech, that includes:

• Diversifying where key inputs come from: not relying on a single country or company for critical minerals, chip fabrication, advanced packaging, or data‑center hardware, and instead spreading production across trusted partners.
• Adding redundancy and backup capacity: encouraging new fabs, data centers, energy projects, and logistics routes within the Pax Silica network so a disruption in one place doesn’t shut down the whole chain.
• Joint supply‑chain mapping and information‑sharing: governments and companies share data to spot “single points of failure” and plan around them.
• Coordinated investment and co‑investment: Pax Silica countries seek joint ventures and financing for fabs, data centers, refining plants, and related infrastructure in allied countries, rather than in jurisdictions seen as coercive or unstable.
• Protecting sensitive nodes: tightening controls and security around chip‑design IP, advanced manufacturing tools, frontier AI models, and core network infrastructure to prevent espionage, sabotage, or hostile takeovers.

These are framed as practical steps—where to build, who to buy from, how to share information and projects—aimed at making the AI and semiconductor ecosystem more resilient to shocks, political pressure, or export restrictions from outside the Pax Silica group.

Closer U.S.–Israel cooperation on AI and semiconductors under Pax Silica raises several sensitive issues:

1. Export controls and transfer of sensitive tech

   • The joint statement explicitly calls for “protection of sensitive technologies” and cooperation to guard critical infrastructure from “undue access, influence, or control,” reflecting concerns that advanced chips, AI models, or dual‑use tools could leak to adversaries or be used for military purposes.
   • Any joint projects must comply with U.S. export‑control laws (for chips, AI, encryption, etc.) and Israel’s own export‑control regime, so both sides need screening, licensing, and monitoring for shared R&D and industrial projects.

2. Research‑security and data‑security risks

   • The partnership highlights “research security,” meaning vetting collaborators, securing labs and code repositories, and managing access to sensitive datasets and AI models so that foreign intelligence services or unvetted partners cannot easily exfiltrate them.

3. Intellectual‑property (IP) ownership and sharing

   • Large joint R&D programs in chips and AI involve complex questions about who owns resulting patents, software, and designs, and how they can be licensed or commercialized. While the declaration doesn’t spell out IP rules, it assumes cooperation will be structured so firms remain willing to invest and so strategic IP does not migrate to non‑trusted jurisdictions.

4. Dual‑use and human‑rights concerns

   • Advanced AI and semiconductor technologies are inherently dual‑use (civilian and military). U.S. and Israeli authorities must consider how shared capabilities in areas like autonomous systems, cyber tools, and surveillance tech are governed to avoid violations of export controls, end‑use restrictions, or human‑rights commitments. These issues are not detailed in the text but are implicit in the emphasis on “trusted” ecosystems and protection of sensitive technology.

Overall, the framework commits both governments to tighten—not loosen—controls and coordination around exports, research security, and protection of critical infrastructure as they deepen cooperation.

Jacob Helberg is the U.S. Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs (E), a Senate‑confirmed senior official who leads the State Department’s economic‑security and technology‑policy agenda.

Role and authority:

• He oversees the Economic Affairs family of bureaus, including Economic, Energy, and Business Affairs; Cyberspace and Digital Policy; and Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs.
• He is responsible for implementing the administration’s economic‑security strategy, including trade rebalancing, re‑industrialization, and supply‑chain security, and for running the Pax Silica initiative as the department’s “flagship effort on AI and supply chain security.”
• As Under Secretary, he can negotiate and launch non‑binding international frameworks and political declarations (like Pax Silica and the U.S.–Israel strategic partnership) on behalf of the State Department, subject to U.S. law and overall administration policy.

In his own briefings, Helberg describes Pax Silica as the State Department’s central tool for securing the silicon and AI supply chain and notes that he directed U.S. diplomats worldwide to “operationalize” the summit’s outcomes through projects and economic‑security practices.

Public official documents only mention “my dear friend, Erez Askal” in Under Secretary Helberg’s remarks and thank him for his “decisiveness, conviction, and speed in bringing us to this moment,” but they do not explain who he is or what formal position he holds.

Open‑source reporting and official sites as of mid‑January 2026 do not provide a clear, authoritative biography or title for Erez Askal, nor detailed description of his role beyond helping move the agreement forward quickly behind the scenes. So, beyond Helberg’s acknowledgment that Askal was instrumental in pushing the deal through bureaucratic hurdles, his specific job, institutional affiliation, and responsibilities are not publicly documented.

The City of David in Jerusalem is an archaeological and religious site associated with the ancient core of the city and with key episodes in Jewish history. Choosing it as the signing location was intended to be symbolically powerful rather than logistically necessary.

In his remarks at the site, Under Secretary Helberg:

• Emphasized that they were “standing directly on the ruins of the Ancient World” whose stones had “witnessed triumph and exile,” “destruction,” and “return,” and described the City of David as a place where ruins are “a reminder of what refuses to die,” not just of what was lost.
• Explicitly linked that history of resilience and rebuilding to the modern project of jointly building future technologies, saying that is “why this is the right place to sign what we are signing today.”

Diplomatically, signing in the City of David ties the tech‑and‑security partnership to a narrative of civilizational continuity and shared purpose, underscoring Israel’s self‑presentation as an ancient yet resilient nation and casting the U.S.–Israel tech alliance as part of that longer historical story.