The BRICS group has long sought to challenge Western domination of technologies and infrastructures. Now, cooperation on artificial intelligence is increasingly on its radar. Provided the group aligns its members’ approaches to AI through its new initiatives, its role in international AI governance is poised to expand.
Late last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill with overwhelming bipartisan support requiring TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, to sell off the app or face a ban in the United States. The concerns are ostensibly about security, but the potential ban is also about a lot more than the app itself.
Despite the challenges that technological innovations like artificial intelligence and autonomous drones pose to governance and society, they will continue to emerge. In the absence of any global agreement, there is still an opportunity for governments to seize on the benefits these advances might bring, while encouraging their ethical and democratic use.