Benefit-Sharing
Global benefit-sharing frameworks seek to ensure that the economic gains from transformative AI are distributed internationally, particularly to low- and middle-income countries that may lack the resources to develop frontier AI systems but will nonetheless be profoundly affected by their deployment.
What it is:
Benefit-sharing encompasses a range of mechanisms designed to spread AI's advantages beyond the small number of countries and companies currently leading development. These mechanisms can take three forms:
Resource Sharing, where compute infrastructure, datasets, or technical expertise are made available to developing nations.
Access Sharing, where AI systems themselves are deployed in ways that serve global public goods.
Financial Redistribution, where a portion of AI-generated wealth is redistributed internationally through funds, dividends, or development assistance.
The underlying rationale is that AI systems are built upon shared global inputs — from data scraped from the internet to scientific knowledge accumulated over generations — and that those without a seat at the development table nonetheless bear significant risks from AI deployment, including labor displacement, the concentration of geopolitical power, and any ensuing geopolitical instability.
Who's working on It:
Centre for the Governance of AI
February 2025
GovAI's report "Options and Motivations for International AI Benefit Sharing" identifies three primary motivations driving benefit-sharing proposals: (1) supporting inclusive economic growth and sustainable development, (2) fostering technological self-determination in low- and middle-income countries, and (3) advancing geopolitical objectives including strengthening international partnerships on AI governance. The report notes that powerful actors like the US government may support benefit sharing strategically, to secure market share relative to China while building support for US-led approaches to AI development and governance.
UN High-Level Advisory Body on AI
September 2024
The UN Secretary-General's High-Level Advisory Body on AI released its final report "Governing AI for Humanity" in September 2024, proposing seven institutional mechanisms including a Global Fund on AI for the SDGs to "bridge the AI divide" and an AI Capacity Development Network to boost expertise in developing countries. Secretary-General António Guterres endorsed these recommendations as providing "a blueprint to build on existing efforts and together, shape an international AI architecture that is inclusive, agile, and effective."
Oxford Martin AI Governance Initiative
December 2025
The Oxford Martin School has proposed an "AI Benefit-Sharing Framework" that attempts to balance access with safety considerations. Their work emphasizes that benefit-sharing mechanisms must be designed to avoid proliferating dual-use capabilities that could pose security risks, while still ensuring that developing nations can participate meaningfully in AI governance and capture economic value from the technology.
US Partnership for Global Inclusivity on AI
September 2024
The U.S. State Department launched the Partnership for Global Inclusivity on AI in 2024, securing over $100 million in commitments from technology companies to deploy AI infrastructure, build human technical capacity, expand local datasets, and increase access to AI models, compute credit, and other AI tools in Global South countries.
World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO)
July 2025
WAICO is a proposed multilateral international body announced by Chinese Premier Li Qiang at the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai. Its stated goal is to coordinate global AI development and governance and to promote inclusive, secure, and equitable AI advancement, particularly for the Global South.
Real-world precedents:
The Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing requires that benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources be shared fairly and equitably with the providing party (typically through prior informed consent and mutually agreed terms).
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria demonstrates how pooled international financing can direct resources to low- and middle-income countries via an allocation model that is predominantly based on disease burden and economic capacity (rather than purely on market demand).
The COVAX Facility attempted (with mixed success) to ensure equitable global access to COVID-19 vaccines across participating countries, illustrating how vaccine nationalism and supply constraints can undermine benefit-sharing when powerful actors have strong incentives to prioritise domestic access.
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