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EXPERT COMMENT

Can UN AI governance bridge the widening digital divide between AI superpowers, middle powers, and developing countries?

The UN Global Dialogue in Geneva, held from 6-7 July, brought together governments, companies, academics, and civil society to discuss the risks emerging from the widening technological gap between middle powers, developing countries, and the AI superpowers. 

Advanced semiconductors, computing infrastructure, and AI capabilities remain concentrated primarily in the United States and China, leaving many countries dependent on technologies they neither develop nor fully control. 

This creates difficult choices between proprietary US systems and open-weight Chinese models, while raising issues around safety, governance, and technical capacity. The resulting asymmetry extends beyond access to AI, limiting the ability of other countries to shape the standards, infrastructure, and governance arrangements that will determine AI’s future. 

The UN summit resulted in a proposal for a ‘Dialogue of Dialogues’ approach to help address some of the issues discussed. This approach cannot counter the technological dominance of the US and China. But it can help countries strengthen their collective position by linking existing governance initiatives, improving technical interoperability, developing shared safety baselines, and building greater capacity to shape the future of AI governance.

Click here to continue reading the full version of this Expert Comment on the Chatham House website.