Introduction

India accepted France's invitation to co-chair the AI Action Summit. This summit will focus on several key areas including AI safety, innovation, public interest AI, future of work, and AI governance issues. This summit represents an opportunity for India to amplify the voice of the Global South on AI issues.

Past AI Summits

The previous two AI Action Summits were held in the U.K. (2023) and South Korea (2024). The Bletchley Park meeting in the U.K. focused on the safety of ‘frontier AI models’ and led to the launch of the U.K. AI Safety Institute (AISI). The Seoul meeting expanded discussions to multilateral collaboration on AI risk management with several countries and blocs.

India’s Role and Initiatives

• India has actively participated in these summits with ministerial and high-level bureaucratic representation.
• Plans for setting up an AI Safety Institute have been announced by India’s IT Minister.
• Under India's G20 presidency in 2023, a pro-innovation regulatory/governance approach was endorsed.
• Hosted the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) meeting in December 2023, emphasizing equitable access to AI resources.

Strategic Priorities for the Global South

1. Democratising Access to AI Resources

India should advocate for equitable access across the AI value chain. This includes:

• Expanding beyond computing hardware to include datasets, infrastructure, platforms, and development tools.
• Promoting distributed computing solutions and open-source AI models.
• Advocating for flexible cross-border transfer of AI technologies while ensuring safety standards.

2. Developing Frameworks for AI Use-Cases

Focus on identifying and prioritizing AI use-cases relevant to the Global South, such as:

• Early disease detection systems.
• Personalized learning platforms.
• Agricultural productivity tools.

Establishment of an AI use-case repository post-summit could guide the Global South in setting priorities.

3. Contextualizing AI Risks and Safety Measures

India must emphasize contextualizing AI risks for the Global South, highlighting unique challenges such as:

• Cultural erosion due to exposure to AI models trained on Western data.
• Collecting evidence of AI-related harms to better inform risk mitigation strategies.

Conclusion

By advancing these priorities, India can position itself as an ideal candidate to host the next AI Action Summit, bridging AI superpowers and developing nations.