appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Wency Chen

Greater global cooperation and development-focused AI regulations are urgently needed to prevent a widening digital divide, scholars and international figures said at China’s premier AI conference on Saturday.
The message aligned with a broader pitch on display at the annual World AI Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, where Beijing is courting the Global South with an artificial intelligence package centred on training, infrastructure and a bid for greater influence over global governance.
“We need to build international consensus,” said Xue Lan, a prominent scholar of public policy and global AI governance and dean of the Schwarzman College at Tsinghua University, during a panel on Saturday.
Xue called on international organisations to improve interoperability between national governance systems and prevent the fragmentation of global rules, while urging expanded cooperation between the Global South and the Global North.
Meanwhile, representatives from developing economies cautioned that AI governance risked stifling early-stage progress in emerging markets.
“Governance is not about regulating at the very beginning,” said Nambaryn Enkhbayar, former president of Mongolia, adding that nations had to first be able to seize technological opportunities and participate in the global AI economy.
“We are ready to develop AI in Mongolia through cooperation with other countries, including China,” he added.


At a governance forum on Friday, Amandeep Singh Gill, the UN secretary general’s envoy on technology, said the organisation was working to ensure that AI capabilities did not “remain concentrated in a small number of countries and regions”.
The discussions built on the tone set by President Xi Jinping in his opening address on Friday, when he announced the establishment of the Shanghai-headquartered World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation.
Xi’s speech went beyond managing safety risks, casting China as a supplier of the models, infrastructure, skills and applications that developing countries need to build their AI economies.
Beijing would “support Global South countries in accelerating AI development, strengthening their capabilities in innovation, application and governance, catching up with the wave of technological revolution and bridging the AI divide,” Xi said.
To back that pledge, Beijing has committed to providing training opportunities for developing countries, establishing regional cooperation centres and supporting the overseas deployment of Chinese AI models and applications.
According to a report on AI safety in China published on Thursday by Concordia AI, a Beijing-based consultancy, the country was positioning itself as an architect of multilateral AI governance, particularly through deeper engagement with the United Nations.
The authors noted that China’s push to establish the new organisation, paired with the resumption of government-level AI risk dialogues between Beijing and Washington, would serve as a bellwether for international cooperation.


Philippine tribe vows to stand ground against US-led Pax Silica: ‘listen to us’

As the US weighs restrictions on cloud computing, how will China’s AI sector adapt?

Chinese AI chipmaker Hygon plots expansion from data centres to robotics

For China’s hi-tech IPOs, it’s Hong Kong vs the mainland – but how much does it matter?

Artificial intelligence (AI)

China AI summit hears Global South needs equal access to avoid digital divide

The World AI Conference in Shanghai comes amid mounting concerns that a digital divide could exclude emerging markets from critical development opportunities. Photo: Xinhua

Tech

Policy

Tech Trends

News

China Future Tech

Delegates at the World AI Conference in Shanghai warn fragmentation risks isolating emerging markets and concentrating advanced computing in rich economies


Delegates at the World AI Conference in Shanghai warn fragmentation risks isolating emerging markets and concentrating advanced computing in rich economies.


China AI summit hears Global South needs equal access to avoid digital divide

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Delegates at the World AI Conference in Shanghai warn fragmentation risks isolating emerging markets and concentrating advanced computing in rich economies

Delegates at the World AI Conference in Shanghai warn fragmentation risks isolating emerging markets and concentrating advanced computing in rich economies