Members of the BRICS have decided to establish an “AI study group” to create and oversee AI governance frameworks.

The BRICS countries intend to establish an “AI study group” to track the growth and development of the technology, according to proposals outlined by Chinese President Xi Jinping. The proposal was under discussion on the second day of the BRICS meeting which took place in Johannesburg, South Africa.

In an effort to make the technologies more secure, dependable, controllable, and equal, Jinping stated that “we need to develop AI governance frameworks.” China pledged to establish a China-BRICS science and innovation incubation park to speed up cooperation among member nations in the area of artificial intelligence, adding that the group’s creation timeline would be announced in due course.

Barely a month ago, in order to prevent the Chinese military from gaining access to American technology and funding, the US has prohibited US companies from investing in China’s quantum computing, advanced semiconductor, and artificial intelligence industries. Although few of the nation’s allies support the ban, it is anticipated to go into effect the following year.

Debates regarding how AI would affect international relations have been raging as it is predicted that it will be the dominant technology of the upcoming ten years. It is not clear how the BRICS study group will control international tech giants like Google and Microsoft to follow the directive to make their technologies “secure, reliable, controllable, and equitable” given that the majority of AI innovation comes from the global north.

Moreover, the study group’s contribution to ignite AI innovation in the BRICS member countries will only become visible once the group has been established with a working agenda.

Namibia Economist