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Quad foreign ministers in Atlanta pledge $85 million for trusted AI; US adds $10 million for India minerals
Quad foreign ministers meeting in Atlanta on 31 October said they will provide more than $85 million for trusted AI in the Indo-Pacific, and the US pledged $10 million for minerals recycling in India and ASEAN. They back navigation in Hormuz; a leaders' summit is expected in mid-November.
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The foreign ministers of the Quad, meaning India, the United States, Japan and Australia, met in Atlanta on Saturday, 31 October, on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers' meeting, and said they will provide more than $85 million in technical and financial assistance for trusted artificial intelligence in the Indo-Pacific, including through a Quad AI Accelerator. The United States separately committed $10 million for critical-minerals recycling in India and ASEAN countries. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Japan's Toshimitsu Motegi and Australia's Penny Wong attended.
Trusted AI
The ministers said they intend to provide more than $85 million to widen access to trusted AI across the Indo-Pacific, including through the Quad AI Accelerator. The statement did not specify the contributions of individual countries or how the money would be distributed, according to one report. It also highlighted cooperation on trusted communications networks, including 5G, 6G and Open RAN.
Critical minerals and supply chains
The United States committed $10 million for infrastructure in India and ASEAN countries to recover critical minerals from electronic waste and scrap, as part of a framework announced in May. The four countries plan to build trusted recycling value chains and to explore streamlining export and import procedures for recyclable materials. They also discussed identifying potential chokepoints in semiconductor and AI hardware supply chains.
The statement expressed grave concerns about economic coercion, including arbitrary export restrictions, and about overcapacity driven by non-market practices. Rubio said that the Quad is not anti-anybody, that US concerns are about specific behaviours and activities coming repeatedly from one country, and that he would not name it. The joint statement did not name any country either.
The ministers expressed concern about disruptions to key maritime routes, the Strait of Hormuz, the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. They called for protecting navigational rights and freedoms and keeping commerce flowing in line with international law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, for the safety of maritime crews and vessels, and they opposed tolls on these routes. The statement came after attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz in recent days, including an attack on a tanker with 27 Indian seafarers.
The second Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer mission sailed from Chennai to Perth between 25 September and 7 October aboard an Indian Coast Guard offshore patrol vessel. The four countries will hold their first exercise under the Indo-Pacific Maritime Surveillance Collaboration initiative at Sea Dragon 2027, and a Quad Maritime Domain Awareness symposium is planned for early next year. The Quad held its first Fuel Security Forum in September, which discussed strategic petroleum reserves and fuel stockholdings.
- The ministers launched the first Quad Business Leaders' Forum, to link governments with private-sector partners.
- Quad export credit agencies are to meet in Tokyo on 18 November.
- They condemned transnational criminal groups and online scam centres and pledged to hold those behind them accountable.
- They recognised India's role as first responder after the Nepal flash floods on 26 August.
The meeting was the third Quad ministerial of the year, after New Delhi in May and Manila in July. One report says that a Quad Leaders' Summit is expected in mid-November on the sidelines of the ASEAN and East Asia summits, hosted by President Donald Trump. Another quotes Rubio as saying that a leaders' meeting would be held in Manila in November and announced very soon. The joint statement gave no date for the next leaders' summit or foreign ministers' meeting, so the reports on the venue differ.
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