How to bridge the global AI divide
How to bridge the global AI divide
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-to-bridge-the-global-ai-divide/
Publish Date: 2026-06-08 16:04:00
Source Domain: www.brookings.edu
Artificial intelligence (AI) is often touted as a tool to improve global prosperity and accelerate development in the Global South, yet policymakers and the public share concerns about its role in widening global inequality given that many of its core inputs—computing power, data, and talent—remain highly concentrated in a few countries and firms. For example, only 32 countries host AI-specialized data centers, most of which are found in the Global North, while Africa and Latin America together account for just 3% of global AI compute capacity. Similarly, the Global South represents 88% of the world’s population and generates vast amounts of data, but the lack of infrastructure means much of this is processed abroad.
Given these realities today, a global AI divide will not be defined solely by deployment and use of the technology, rather, it will encompass the fundamental inputs of energy systems, data centers, supply chains, and geopolitical power that make the technology so powerful. Yet such a trajectory is not inevitable; there is still an opportunity to shape the future of AI and promote inclusive and sustainable prosperity for all.
Several key trends, including the concentration of AI investment and data extraction, currently shape the AI divide
Concentration of AI infrastructure and investment
AI development relies on compute-heavy infrastructure such as data centers, graphics processing units (GPUs), and energy systems. According to McKinsey, the total global spending on data centers could reach $7 trillion by 2030, yet investment so far is highly concentrated in certain areas. For example, of the 23 gigawatts of global data center capacity that was under construction in September 2025, about 75% was in the United States. The International Monetary…
