Developing nations demand greater say in AI governance

“Developing countries cannot be reduced to the role of mere users of technologies designed elsewhere,” Democratic Republic of Congo Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner said at a UN Security Council session on AI.She said developing nations should not simply receive standards and norms in whose creation they had not adequately participated, warning that technological transformation should not reproduce the economic imbalances of previous decades.

The Security Council session included senior executives from leading AI companies, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who urged governments to cooperate in managing the technology. Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman, who chaired the UN debate, said interest in AI had grown sharply.

He noted that only five delegations had raised the issue at the UN four years ago, compared with 128 delegations this year. Rahman framed AI as a question of governance, asking who designs the technology, who benefits from it, who bears its risks and who is accountable when harm occurs.

The World Bank has said AI could enable developing countries to achieve a century’s worth of development within a decade if they address gaps in electricity, connectivity and skills. The IMF has estimated that AI could boost Sub-Saharan Africa’s economy by about 4% over the next decade under the right conditions.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres compared the global debate over AI with climate change, saying developing nations should have an equal voice in addressing both challenges. He called for coordinated international action rather than isolated national responses.

The focus on regulation contrasted with US President Donald Trump’s remarks dismissing concerns over AI risks as a “hoax” and “sick conspiracy,” and saying such concerns were vastly overstated.