It wasn't until the spring of this year, when it became clear that the OECD would host the secretariat of the GPAI, that the U.S. decided to throw its weight behind the new alliance, according to officials involved in the negotiations. “The U.S. decided to join because it was better to be inside the tent influencing its efforts than outside,” said Robert D. Atkinson, the president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a think tank whose board includes members of tech giants like Amazon or Google.