At the UN, Developing Nations Call for a Bigger Say in Shaping AI’s Future

Artificial intelligence is advancing at extraordinary speed, but a growing debate at the United Nations is asking a fundamental question: Who gets to shape the rules for the technology that will affect everyone?

During the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York, leaders and representatives from developing countries called for a stronger role in determining how artificial intelligence is governed. Their concern is that if AI development, computing power, data and global standards remain concentrated among a relatively small number of wealthy countries and technology companies, existing economic and technological inequalities could become wider.

The discussion reflects a broader shift. AI is no longer being treated solely as a technology-sector issue. Governments increasingly see it as a question involving economic development, jobs, education, public services, security and international governance.

Developing Countries Want More Than a Seat at the Table

At a UN Security Council session focused on artificial intelligence, Democratic Republic of the Congo Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner argued that developing countries should not be limited to using technologies and standards designed elsewhere.

Her comments reflected a concern shared by governments across Africa, Asia and Latin America: countries that have historically had less influence over major technological systems could find themselves dependent on decisions made elsewhere.

Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman, who chaired this year's UN debate, noted that AI had moved dramatically higher on the international agenda. According to remarks reported by Reuters, only five delegations raised AI during a UN discussion four years ago, while 128 delegations addressed it this year.

The numbers illustrate how quickly AI has become a global policy issue.

AI Could Create Opportunities — But Access Matters

The developing world's concerns are not simply about regulation.

AI could potentially help countries improve healthcare, education, agriculture, public administration and scientific research. It could also help businesses operate more efficiently and allow developing economies to move into new industries.

But access to the technology is uneven.

Countries need reliable electricity, internet connectivity, computing infrastructure, skilled workers, educational systems and investment to make effective use of advanced AI. Without those foundations, the benefits of AI could remain concentrated in countries and companies that already possess significant technological resources.

The UN Trade and Development agency recently called for coordinated global action, including more inclusive rules and standards, greater investment and stronger partnerships to help developing countries build productive capacity.

That raises an important distinction: having access to AI products is not necessarily the same as having the capacity to build, adapt and govern AI systems.

The Global AI Governance Debate Is Expanding

The United Nations has already begun creating forums intended to bring countries together on AI governance.

The UN's Global Dialogue on AI Governance was established to provide an inclusive space for governments and other stakeholders to discuss major AI challenges. Its first session took place in Geneva in July 2026, with another session scheduled for New York in May 2027.

The broader UN discussion is centered on questions that go beyond technical safety:

• Who develops advanced AI systems?
• Who has access to computing power and data?
• Who benefits economically?
• How should workers prepare for technological change?
• Who is responsible when AI causes harm?
• How can countries with limited resources participate meaningfully in AI development?
• What international standards should apply?

These questions are increasingly relevant to businesses, governments and ordinary people—not just AI researchers.

Safety Is Also a Global Issue

The UN debate has included voices from the technology industry itself.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei participated in a Security Council discussion on AI and called for international cooperation around the technology.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has similarly argued that international cooperation is essential as AI develops rapidly. Before the General Assembly, he highlighted both the potential benefits of AI and concerns that technological progress could move faster than society's ability to understand and manage its risks.

The challenge is finding a governance approach that addresses genuine risks without preventing countries from using AI to support economic and social development.

The Digital Divide Could Become an AI Divide

One of the most important issues raised by developing countries is the possibility of a new technological divide.

The world already has significant differences in internet access, digital skills, research capacity and technological infrastructure. If advanced AI becomes another resource concentrated among a small group of countries, those existing gaps could become more significant.

On the other hand, AI could also provide developing countries with opportunities to accelerate development.

The World Bank has argued that AI could help developing countries achieve substantial development gains if they address gaps in infrastructure, connectivity and skills. The International Monetary Fund has also identified potential economic benefits for Sub-Saharan Africa under the right conditions.

This creates a complicated policy challenge: countries need enough access to benefit from AI while also having enough influence to help determine how the technology is governed.

Why This Matters to the United States

For American readers, the UN debate may seem distant from everyday life. In reality, decisions about international AI governance could affect U.S. companies, workers, consumers and technology standards.

The United States remains one of the world's major centers for AI research and development. But AI systems operate across borders, and their effects are increasingly international.

American companies may eventually face different regulatory requirements in different markets. U.S. workers will compete and collaborate in economies adopting AI at different speeds. American policymakers will also have to consider how international rules interact with domestic AI policy.

The debate therefore isn't simply about whether developing nations should have more influence. It is also about how countries with very different economic circumstances can participate in a shared technological future.

A Bigger Question for the AI Era

The UN discussion points toward a question that will likely remain central for years:

Can the world develop AI governance that is both technologically effective and internationally inclusive?

There are no simple answers.

Governments want innovation. Companies want room to develop new technologies. Researchers want scientific progress. Workers want opportunities and protection from disruptive changes. Developing countries want access to infrastructure, investment and knowledge while having a meaningful role in decisions that affect them.

Those interests do not always align.

But one point is increasingly clear: artificial intelligence is becoming too important to be discussed only within technology companies or individual countries.

The future of AI will be shaped not only by algorithms and computing power, but also by the institutions, rules and people that determine how those technologies are developed and used.

As the UN debate demonstrates, developing countries are asking to be participants in that process—not simply consumers of its results.

And that may become one of the defining questions of the AI era:

Who gets to shape the future of AI—and who gets to benefit from it?

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