Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative general-purpose technology with global implications for productivity, innovation, and social welfare. While much of the frontier development occurs in advanced economies, the implications for developing countries, the Global South, are equally significant and interconnected. This paper argues that the transition from Artificial Narrow Intelligence (ANI) to general-purpose AI, or so called Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), although uncertain in timing, presents both shared challenges and opportunities for global cooperation. Developing countries risk heightened vulnerabilities due to accelerated automation trends and limited welfare systems, yet they also hold immense potential to drive inclusive service-led innovation. Drawing on emerging literature in technological change and development economics, this paper presents a balanced perspective that emphasizes interdependence between the Global North and South. It proposes a framework where (i) capability building, (ii) responsible innovation, and (iii) knowledge sharing enable mutually beneficial outcomes. The study concludes with concrete policy recommendations for advancing a sustainable and human-centered AI transformation across all regions. In particular, this paper highlights the emerging role of compute governance—the regulation and allocation of computational resources—as a tractable and material lever for ensuring that the benefits of frontier AI are distributed equitably between the Global North and South.
Christoph et al. (Fri,) studied this question.