AI Governance: A Familiar Script Unfolds
India's latest AI Impact Summit, lauded by mainstream outlets like Al Jazeera for its stated goals of 'inclusive growth' and 'sustainability' in AI governance, suggests a collaborative future for this transformative technology. The gathering, which attracted leaders and tech giants, ostensibly aims to establish a global framework, implying shared decision-making for AI's trajectory. Yet, this
framing conveniently sidesteps the historical precedent set by past technological revolutions. Consider the Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968, which codified nuclear haves and have-nots, effectively denying sovereign nations like Iran access to technology deemed critical for their security while allowing established powers to retain their arsenals. Similarly, the 'open internet' of the 1990s
quickly saw centralized control emerge, dominated by Silicon Valley titans and, by extension, US governmental interests, as revealed by Edward Snowden's 2013 disclosures regarding NSA surveillance. This pattern suggests that 'global governance' often translates into powerful states dictating terms for emerging technologies. When the US and its allies push for 'responsible AI,' they are often
defining responsibility in terms that maintain their pre-eminence and surveillance capabilities, effectively weaponizing the very notion of 'stability' to restrict others. The 'sustainability' touted at these summits rarely includes sustaining the technological sovereignty of nations outside the dominant economic and military blocs. Therefore, while the optics of international cooperation abound,