📈 Global AI Divide Threatens Economic Parity; Urgent Global Action Needed

• The AI Divide: Artificial Intelligence is rapidly driving global growth, but unequal access threatens to worsen income inequality across three major dimensions: - Corporate Gap: Large corporations gain productivity and profits, while small and medium enterprises (SMEs) struggle to compete due to high costs. - Global Gap: Advanced nations with strong digital infrastructure expand rapidly, leaving developing countries behind. - Social Divide: Wealth concentrates among capital owners, causing job displacement and stagnant wages for workers. • Historical Precedent & Speed: Unlike historical transitions like electricity—where Sri Lanka achieved universal access over decades via domestic policy and aid from multilateral lenders like the World Bank and ADB—AI is evolving at an exponential pace, giving developing nations far less time to adapt. • Global Commitments: China announced at the 2026 World AI Conference that it will offer 5,000 AI training opportunities over five years and set up application centers for regional blocs including BRICS and ASEAN. • Proposed Framework: To avoid fragmentation and geopolitical bias, experts urge creating a Global Action Group driven by development banks (IMF, World Bank, ADB) rather than politicized bodies like the UN, establishing an annual 4-tier index (High, Medium, Emerging, and Low AI) to track equity and guide funding.