TLDR: At their 17th summit in Rio de Janeiro, BRICS+ leaders released a landmark statement on global AI governance, advocating for a multilateral, UN-centric approach that prioritizes the needs of the Global South, digital sovereignty, and equitable access to technology, positioning their collective vision as a counterweight to existing Western-led initiatives.
RIO DE JANEIRO – The BRICS+ bloc, comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, and new members including the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Iran, has taken a significant step towards shaping the future of artificial intelligence governance. At their 17th annual summit, held in Rio de Janeiro on July 6 and 7, 2025, the leaders issued the ‘BRICS Leaders’ Statement on the Global Governance of Artificial Intelligence,’ marking their first consensus document on the subject at a leadership level.
The statement underscores AI as a pivotal opportunity to foster global equity, drive innovation, enhance productivity, advance sustainable development, and improve human welfare. It outlines a comprehensive set of governance principles aimed at mitigating potential risks while specifically addressing the needs of all countries, particularly those in the Global South. This collective stance is seen as a deliberate counterweight to Western-led initiatives, with BRICS leaders rejecting ‘unilateral, punitive, or discriminatory protectionist measures’ in the digital realm.
Key pillars of the BRICS+ AI governance framework include:
Multilateralism with the UN at its Core: The bloc emphasizes the United Nations as the central coordinating body for global AI governance, advocating for a collective global effort to establish a framework that upholds shared values, builds trust, and ensures broad and inclusive international collaboration.
Market Regulation and Equitable Access: The statement calls for fair market access and equitable technology transfer, stressing the importance of ensuring all countries have equal access to AI technologies. This includes promoting open-source collaboration and public sector involvement to foster trust and data sovereignty.
Fairness and Sustainable Development: BRICS+ nations view AI as a tool for enhancing economic sustainability, climate resilience, and bridging the growing digital divide. They commit to using AI to support equitable growth, including investments in local ecosystems and shared training data repositories that respect cultural diversity.
Ethical, Trustworthy AI for Humanity: The leaders advocate for the development of AI systems that are safe, ethical, transparent, and accountable. They reaffirm the importance of frameworks like UNESCO’s Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence and call for mechanisms to ensure human oversight, combat algorithmic bias, and address misinformation.
The summit also saw the establishment of BRICS study groups focused on critical areas such as AI ethics, data sovereignty, and AI’s role in sustainable industrial development. These initiatives will operate under the BRICS Institute of Future Networks and new AI-focused working groups within the BRICS Partnership on the New Industrial Revolution (PartNIR). The bloc committed to joint research, data-sharing, and regulatory alignment to ensure AI is safe and beneficial for all.
While the original news summary highlighted sharp divergences, the BRICS statement itself presents a unified vision from the bloc, albeit one that diverges significantly from the approaches of other global powers. This collective stance amplifies the priorities of the Global South in the evolving landscape of AI governance.
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Looking ahead, the implementation of this AI governance roadmap is expected to be a central focus at the next BRICS Summit, which India will host in 2026.
