BRICS Demands a Seat at the AI Table: UN-Led Governance to Reshape Tech’s Future

In a significant move signaling a growing assertion from the Global South, the BRICS group of nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, along with newly welcomed members and partner countries – is strongly advocating for the United Nations to take the lead in establishing global Artificial Intelligence (AI) governance frameworks. This push, formalized at the recent BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro, underscores a collective desire for broader representation in shaping AI’s future, moving beyond the predominant influence of Western tech giants and their associated regulatory approaches.

The Rio de Janeiro Declaration, adopted at the summit, specifically outlines a vision for AI that prioritizes inclusion, trust, capacity-building, and adherence to sovereign regulatory frameworks. This positions BRICS as a unified voice for AI ethics and equity, offering a nuanced, developmentalist lens that often contrasts with the “risk-based” approaches favored by G7 nations.

Why UN Leadership? A Call for Inclusivity

The BRICS stance stems from a recognition that AI’s transformative potential, while immense, also carries significant risks if its development and deployment are not governed equitably. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India highlighted at the summit, “We in India believe in AI as a tool to enhance human values and capabilities,” stressing the need for “responsible AI” that balances innovation with safeguards.

The core of the BRICS proposal revolves around the idea that AI governance should not be “a club of the few,” as UN Secretary-General António Guterres has also emphasized. Developing nations fear an “AI divide” that could exacerbate existing inequalities if the benefits and decision-making power of AI remain concentrated in already wealthy nations.

Key reasons for BRICS advocating a UN-led approach include:

• Broader Representation: The UN offers a truly global platform where all member states, regardless of their technological prowess, can have a voice in shaping AI policies and norms. This contrasts with forums heavily influenced by a few dominant tech-producing nations.
• Addressing Global South Concerns: BRICS nations are particularly focused on issues such as fair payment for data used in training AI models, preventing unauthorized AI usage, and ensuring that AI development genuinely benefits their populations, rather than just large corporations.
• Ethical and Inclusive Frameworks: The emphasis is on building AI ecosystems that comply with ethical values, balance innovation with social benefits, and promote cooperation in developing digital infrastructure and high-quality human capital.
• Preventing Exploitation: There are strong concerns about the potential for AI to reinforce biases, amplify systemic inequalities, and create opaque decision-making systems that lack accountability, especially in vulnerable economies.

Beyond Western Models: A New Paradigm for AI Regulation

While Western economies, particularly the EU, have focused on comprehensive regulatory frameworks like the AI Act, often emphasizing risk mitigation and consumer protection, the BRICS approach introduces a broader set of considerations. They advocate for:

• Data Protection and Fair Compensation: Leaders called for measures to prevent excessive data gathering and to establish systems for fair compensation for material used in training AI models – a direct challenge to the current practices of many large language model developers.
• Sovereign Regulatory Frameworks: The declaration underscores respect for national regulatory approaches while seeking an overarching global consensus. This acknowledges the diverse socio-economic contexts and legal systems among nations.
• Capacity Building and Technology Transfer: A UN-led framework could facilitate knowledge sharing, technology transfer, and investment in digital infrastructure for developing nations, ensuring they are not merely consumers but active participants in the AI revolution.

The BRICS initiative is also seen as a counterbalance to G7-led AI governance discussions, highlighting a divergence in priorities. While G7 focuses on a “risk-based” approach, BRICS emphasizes economic fairness and compensation, reflecting broader geopolitical shifts and a desire for a more multipolar global order.

The Road Ahead

The call for UN leadership in AI governance reflects a growing international consensus that AI’s global impact necessitates global solutions. With India set to assume the chairmanship of BRICS in 2026 and host an “AI Impact Summit,” the momentum for a more inclusive and equitable approach to AI governance is set to continue. The challenge will be to translate these aspirations into concrete, actionable frameworks that can genuinely address the complex ethical, economic, and societal implications of AI for all of humanity, not just a select few.