Foreign ministers from the Quad countries pledged more than $85 million in technical and financial assistance to expand access to trusted artificial intelligence across the Indo-Pacific, in a joint statement issued after their meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 1. The announcement came on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers’ gathering.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosted the session, joined by India’s external affairs minister S. Jaishankar, Japan’s foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Australia’s foreign minister Penny Wong, Reuters reported.

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Quad foreign ministers at a July 2025 meeting in Washington, D.C. (file photo). Photo: U.S. Department of State (public domain), via Wikimedia Commons

What the Joint Statement Says

“The Quad ministers highlighted the importance of artificial intelligence and expressed their intent to provide over USD 85 million of technical and financial assistance to support access to trusted AI across the Indo-Pacific, including through the Quad AI Accelerator,” the joint statement said, according to Republic World. The Quad trusted AI pledge is the group’s most concrete AI funding commitment to date.

The statement did not specify how much each country will contribute or how the money will be distributed, ET Now noted.

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Graphic: GPTOnline

Semiconductors and Critical Minerals

Beyond AI funding, the ministers said they would launch a new effort to identify vulnerabilities in semiconductor and related supply chains before they cause disruptions, Reuters reported. The United States separately pledged $10 million for critical-minerals recycling facilities in India and ASEAN countries.

The group’s export credit agencies are scheduled to meet in Tokyo on November 18 to coordinate practical steps, and the ministers announced a first-ever Quad Business Leaders’ Forum to connect industry and government across the four countries.

A Message Without Naming Names

The ministers “expressed grave concerns regarding economic coercion, including through arbitrary export restrictions, as well as non-market policies and practices,” Reuters quoted from the statement, stopping short of naming China. Rubio told reporters the Quad “is not an alliance directed against any country,” even as he acknowledged the group’s concerns repeatedly point to one nation, News18 reported.

Why It Matters

The pledge lands as governments across the Indo-Pacific weigh which AI ecosystems to build on. Framing the money as “trusted AI” positions the four democracies as an alternative to Chinese AI platforms for the region’s digital infrastructure, a theme underscored by the parallel semiconductor and minerals moves. With a Quad leaders’ summit expected in Manila later in November, the Atlanta statement sets the agenda for what could become a larger package.

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