Key Details
The UN Secretary-General’s report, Unique Challenges Faced by Developing Countries in Artificial Intelligence Capacity-Building (A/80/817), recommends advancing a pooled global fund and strengthening international monitoring and knowledge exchange.
Proposed fund: A needs-based Global Fund for AI Capacity-Building.
Indicative scale: Initial commitments of approximately US$3 billion over two to four years.
Policy status: The fund has been proposed but has not yet been established, capitalised or assigned a final governance model.
Next step: The General Assembly is asked to develop the fund’s objectives, governance and administrative arrangements during its 81st session.
Possible support: Computing infrastructure, energy and connectivity, quality data, digital public infrastructure, skills, national AI strategies, regulation and institutional capacity.
Potential contributors: Governments, philanthropic organisations, multilateral development banks and the private sector.
Institutional location: The fund could operate within or outside the UN system and should complement rather than replace existing financing.
Monitoring: The report recommends regular country-level reporting on AI capacity using measurable indicators.
Knowledge exchange: Member states are encouraged to nominate institutions to the Global Network for Exchange and Cooperation on AI Capacity-Building.
AI Infrastructure Is Concentrated in Wealthier Economies
The report finds that financing for AI capacity-building is fragmented and geographically uneven. High-income countries accounted for 77% of global co-location data-centre capacity in June 2025, while low-income countries held less than 0.1%.
National preparedness also differs sharply. Around half of UN member states had adopted a national AI strategy by 2025, compared with fewer than 20% of least developed countries.
These gaps affect more than access to commercial AI tools. Countries without adequate computing capacity, energy, connectivity, data, skills and public institutions have less ability to develop local applications, evaluate imported systems or participate meaningfully in international rulemaking.
The Fund Would Establish a Minimum Level of AI Capacity
The proposed Global Fund would direct finance towards countries with the largest capacity gaps. Its purpose is to establish a minimum foundation from which countries can use AI for national priorities and attract further development investment.
Support could extend across two connected areas:
Technical foundations: Affordable computing power, connectivity, energy, datasets, models, digital public infrastructure and skilled workers.
Institutional foundations: National AI strategies, procurement expertise, regulatory capacity, safety assessment and participation in global AI governance.
This makes the proposal broader than a fund for data centres or technical training. It treats the ability to choose, procure, adapt and govern AI as part of national capacity.
A $3 Billion Scale Is Proposed, but the Design Remains Open
The report suggests initial commitments of around US$3 billion over two to four years, set against annualised private investment in AI infrastructure exceeding half a trillion dollars.
The fund would be needs-based and could combine voluntary public and philanthropic contributions with development-bank participation, private expertise and other forms of support. The report cites international health-financing arrangements, including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the Global Financing Facility, as possible institutional references.
These are models for consideration, not a settled structure. Decisions on eligibility, contributor representation, beneficiary participation, project selection, safeguards and administration remain open.
Finance Would Be Paired with Monitoring and Cooperation
The Secretary-General recommends regular reporting on national AI capacity until a permanent monitoring arrangement is established. Comparable indicators could show whether investment is reducing gaps in computing access, skills, data systems and institutional readiness.
The report also seeks additional participation in the Global Network for Exchange and Cooperation on AI Capacity-Building. The network is intended to connect centres that can share expertise, infrastructure, datasets, training and support for national AI strategies.
Finance and institutional exchange therefore perform different roles: the fund would mobilise resources, while the network would help countries access technical knowledge and delivery partners.
Guterres Seeks Political Support from BRICS
At the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed that AI capabilities remain concentrated among a small number of countries and companies. He sought BRICS support for the fund and for the UN’s wider AI-governance arrangements, including its Independent International Scientific Panel on AI and Global Dialogue on AI Governance.
His intervention placed AI capacity within a broader Global South agenda covering development finance and reform of international institutions. BRICS endorsement could expand political support, but creation and financing of the fund will ultimately require decisions by UN member states and prospective contributors.
What Does AI Capacity Include?
AI capacity is a country’s ability to develop, obtain, evaluate, deploy and govern artificial intelligence. It includes physical infrastructure — such as electricity, connectivity, cloud services and computing power, along with reliable and locally relevant data; technical and public-sector skills; research and testing institutions; procurement and regulatory expertise; safety and accountability mechanisms; and the ability to participate in international AI governance. Access to an AI product alone does not provide these underlying capabilities.
Policy Relevance
India has significant AI, digital public infrastructure and technical capabilities, but it also faces internal gaps in compute access, research capacity, skills and locally relevant data.
International role: India could contribute public-infrastructure experience, multilingual technology and institutional expertise through the global capacity-building network.
Domestic relevance: The fund’s proposed indicators could help distinguish national AI scale from the distribution of capacity across states, universities, start-ups and public institutions.
Governance interest: India has a stake in ensuring that recipient countries participate in fund governance and retain control over national priorities, data and technology choices.
Unresolved question: The proposal does not yet specify country eligibility, funding shares, project-selection rules or safeguards against dependence on particular technology providers.
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Secretary-General Calls for Global Fund to Address AI Capacity-Building Gaps
United Nations in India