Shaping the future of global AI governance

The WAIC and the WAICO pave an inclusive path for equitable digital development

Artificial intelligence has become a strategic force of the 21st century. Beyond its extraordinary technological achievements, AI is reshaping industrial production, scientific research, healthcare, education, public administration, finance and national security. More importantly, it has become a key determinant of economic competitiveness and geopolitical influence. Countries that develop their own AI capabilities will enjoy greater strategic autonomy, while those that rely exclusively on foreign technologies risk entering a new era of digital dependence.

Consequently, the global debate over AI governance is as important as the technological revolution itself. The rules, standards, ethical principles and institutional frameworks established over the coming years will not only shape AI’s evolution, but also determine who benefits from it. The discussion extends beyond algorithms to encompass development, sovereignty and the distribution of global technological power.

Against this backdrop, the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference, convenes in Shanghai from July 17 to 20, deserves close international attention. Since its inception in 2018, the WAIC has become China’s leading international platform for dialogue on AI, bringing together governments, scientists, universities, technology companies and international organizations. This year’s conference is particularly significant: The agreement on the establishment of the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization — a global institution designed to promote practical cooperation in AI, particularly among developing countries and the Global South — was signed.

The China-proposed organization aligns with a broader vision articulated by China through its Global AI Governance Initiative, its support for multilateral cooperation under the United Nations, and its emphasis on bridging the global digital divide. Rather than focusing exclusively on technological competition, the Chinese approach highlights capacity building, scientific cooperation, infrastructure development, talent cultivation, and technology sharing as essential components of AI development.

For developing countries, this perspective deserves serious consideration. The central question should not be whether to align with one technological power or another, but how to build national capabilities while maintaining strategic autonomy. True technological sovereignty does not imply isolation; it requires diversified international partnerships that can strengthen domestic innovation ecosystems through knowledge exchange, joint research, technology transfer, education, and industrial cooperation.

In this regard, the WAICO is particularly relevant because it is closely linked to the UN General Assembly Resolution that calls for enhanced international cooperation on AI capacity building. Adopted by consensus, the resolution recognizes that AI should serve as a tool for sustainable development rather than a source of greater inequality. It encourages countries to cooperate in developing national AI strategies, training professionals, expanding digital infrastructure, promoting scientific collaboration, and ensuring that developing nations are not excluded from the next technological revolution.

For Latin America, this debate is of strategic importance. The region cannot afford to remain merely a consumer of technologies developed elsewhere. It must invest in scientific research, digital infrastructure, education, industrial modernization, and regional cooperation while actively participating in the international institutions where the future governance of AI is being defined.

However, enthusiasm for AI must be tempered with responsibility. AI offers extraordinary opportunities to increase productivity, improve public services, accelerate scientific discovery, and enhance human well-being. Yet it also raises profound challenges: the concentration of technological power in a handful of corporations, growing digital inequalities, threats to privacy, algorithmic discrimination, labor displacement, autonomous weapons, and new forms of surveillance. Without internationally agreed principles and effective governance mechanisms, the benefits of AI may become concentrated while its risks become global.

This is precisely why multilateral governance matters. The world needs international institutions capable of fostering innovation while protecting sovereignty, ensuring equitable access to technology, promoting transparency, and establishing shared ethical standards. One country, company, or technological ecosystem should not monopolize humanity’s digital future.

Every industrial revolution has changed the international balance of power, and AI will be no exception. Countries that participate in shaping its governance today will help define the political and economic architecture of tomorrow.

Whether or not one agrees with every aspect of China’s proposals, initiatives such as the WAIC and the WAICO offer an opportunity for the Global South to contribute proactively to the construction of a more inclusive international AI governance framework — one that promotes multilateralism, scientific cooperation, technology transfer, South-South collaboration and respect for national sovereignty.

AI should not become a new instrument of dependency. Properly governed, it can become one of the greatest tools for human development ever created. The real challenge before us is not simply who will lead the AI revolution, but whether that revolution will contribute to building a more balanced, equitable and genuinely multipolar international order.

The author is the president of the CEUS at the University of Buenos Aires and a former ambassador of Argentina to China.

The author contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily. The views don’t necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

Contact the editor at editor@chinawatch.cn.