As the world gathered in Geneva for the AI for Good Global Summit last week, a powerful question drove discourse: how do we fund digital inclusion and promote artificial intelligence-driven solutions that serve humanity? This moment, convening governments, multilateral agencies, and industry leaders, signals an inflection point in global development discourse. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer a futuristic technology and solely the terrain of advanced economies. It is now framed as a tool with the potential to transform education, health care, agriculture, and economic opportunity, particularly for those historically excluded from its benefits. Yet, for all the applause, there is a growing sense that these commitments, despite good intention, risk missing their target for impact in the Global South, where 500 million young people are on the cusp of entering the workforce. The core challenge lies not in ambition and pledges but in infrastructure, education, commitment, and job creation.

Beneath the headlines and funding announcements are vast structural gaps that no single actor nor convening platform will be able to solve for alone. If we are serious about inclusive, rights-based AI development, and narrowing rather than expanding the digital divide, then the global development community, including, state capital, philanthropists, impact investors and aid agencies must address what it will take to build AI ecosystems in countries where basic infrastructure remains a pre-requisite.

In many parts of the Global South, fundamental digital infrastructure is lacking. Electricity remains unreliable. High-speed internet access including mobile data is inconsistent at best (see: https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/19312438/embed?auto=1) Cloud computing and data storage services are prohibitively expensive or inaccessible. These are foundational challenges, rather than minor obstacles and without them AI deployment and the associated benefits will be unsustainable. Moreover, they will ignore many of the underlying developmental challenges that Global South economies are facing. The cost of establishing and maintaining national digital infrastructure is in the billions of dollars, making it inaccessible for many resource-constrained governments unless they can attract innovative financing mechanisms.

The barriers do not end there. In the Global North, where students are trained in foundational problem-solving skills, computer science curriculum are already being adapted (admittedly too slowly) to include AI literacy.  Conversely, in the Global South, education systems face challenges, and computer science training, where available, has focused on coding skills and data analysis. This approach now needs to be augmented with a supplemental learning to unlock critical thinking, judgment, and agility.  In the case of those who acquire skills abroad, their talent migrates since most are rarely able to return due to the absence of meaningful opportunities at home. Meanwhile, access to funding for local innovation, including local solutions and regionalized content, remains limited. Private and venture capital investments in AI continue to flow to the U.S., key European markets, the GCC and Asian hubs.  Startups and research institutions in Africa, Latin America, and South Asia often operate in isolation, with little access to the global networks and financial capital needed to scale.

Solutions wise, the AI for Good Impact Initiative’s flexible funding model, with funding that ranging from microgrants under $50,000 to million-dollar investments, is a step forward. But it must evolve to match the scale of need. The real price tag of enabling the Global South to participate meaningfully in the AI economy includes national-scale infrastructure, robust regulatory frameworks, and durable institutions of innovation. These are public goods that require consistent financing, not just competitive applications.

Ultimately, the challenge is both technical and structural. We must move into a paradigm of shared responsibility and mutual interest. Governments and multi-national corporations with the financial resources, political will, and research and development capabilities, in both the Global North and Global South, have a unique role to play, through direct investment and development assistance, removing barriers to technology transfer and supporting innovation and inclusion along the way.  There are bright spots and notably solutions emanating through innovation coming from Global South countries themselves, and through philanthropic public-private-partnerships. 

A notable case study the nexus of Abu Dhabi’s G42, the Ai technology firm and Microsoft. Together they are demonstrating significant leadership and innovation in this regard.  Last year they launched an initiative together with the government of Kenya to build a digital ecosystem in Kenya including scalable cloud and AI services as well as green data services.  Earlier this this year, G42 and Microsoft also launched the Responsible AI Foundation to “promote responsible AI standards and best practices in the Middle East and Global South” and will focus on both responsible AI research, for AI fairness, transparency, and accountability, and responsible AI governance and implementation. The AI for Good Lab in Abu Dhabi, a regional hub of Microsoft’s AI for Good Lab, is also working with NGOs and governmental organizations to leverage AI to address societal challenges, with a focus on projects in the Middle East and Global South.

To replicate and scale such success stories, there is an imperative for vision led AI infrastructure, investment, and intentionality.  Such a vision of AI for Good will remain incomplete however unless all actors, including governments in the Global South, understand that AI is an essential priority for full participation in the global economy and that there is a window now to bridge the gap in skills and jobs to realize the opportunity of opportunity for a more inclusive and globalized digital economy.  This point was underscored in a message to the AI for Good Summit from Pope Leo XIV, that AI should build bridges and not widen, serving humanity. Failure to act now however, will mean that our most vulnerable populations will be left further behind in our digital world.