Ahead of the event ‘Digital@UNGA 2026’ and other AI-focused meetings at the UNGA81, Oxfam International Executive Director Amitabh Behar said:
“As high-level meetings focused on AI kick off at the UN, a handful of AI players continue to amass power, wealth and influence, even as many are warning that they need guardrails and regulation because they cannot – or will not – do it themselves. We must take warnings from AI leaders and whistleblowers seriously, and the UN must play a central role in deciding a collective way forward as AI’s influence and impact grows every day, with the most marginalized being left behind and paying the price.
“Right now, a tiny number of companies and countries control almost all of the data, infrastructure, and expertise that underpin AI. We’re already seeing a widening inequality gap in terms of who has control, who has access, who benefits, and who is forced to live with the deafening drone of AI data centers in their communities.
“We must open the conversation at the UN to ensure civil society, workers, and affected communities and countries of all sizes and influence have seats at the table – not just the powerful few governments and AI leaders who so far have dominated the debate. We must insist it is a conversation that we all can understand and contribute to because the stakes could not be higher for each of us and humanity as a whole.
“Oxfam is calling for governance that is effective, enforceable and upholds our individual & collective human rights. We must see more than conversations – we need actions taken that confront the unequal power the AI industry holds and address the current and potential harms to each of us.
“We know AI holds tremendous potential to help solve some of our most existential collective challenges if it is designed, deployed and controlled responsibly. However, without regulation and accountability, it will only make the current crises of widening inequality, multiplying extreme climate events, and erosion of human rights even more stark. We have no time to waste. AI is advancing exponentially, and we must take collective action before we are too late.”
Notas para editores
Oxfam is also co-hosting an “IIDEAS Summit” on September 24 with Amano, and other partners – an event focused on Artificial Intelligence for Human Progress, Nature and Resilient Systems, Health Systems for the Next Generation, and Financing the Future (Invitation-only).
Oxfam’s position on AI (particularly in the context of the UN) is:
- AI needs effective, enforceable, rights-based governance - not reliance on voluntary corporate commitments. Regulation should cover the full AI lifecycle and require transparency, accountability, human oversight, human-rights due diligence and human-rights impact assessment, as well as meaningful redress & remedy where harms occur. Governance must address AI's effects on inequality, work, civic participation, mis/dis-information and the environment, in addition to the technical safety concerns currently making headlines.
- AI governance must confront unequal power, not just individual harms. A tiny number of companies and countries control almost all of the data, infrastructure, frontier models and expertise that underpin AI. Oxfam supports any measure that constrains monopoly power, promotes open & interoperable systems and digital public goods, expands AI capacity in Global South countries, ensures that AI's benefits and decision-making power are distributed, and ensures the externalities & harms are not simply borne by the most vulnerable/least powerful.
- People affected by AI must have meaningful agency in governing it. Decisions about whether, where and how AI systems are developed and deployed should not be determined solely by powerful technology companies or powerful states. Workers, civil society, affected communities and countries of the Global South need meaningful participation, with particular focus on the dimensions of intersectional inequality that AI has the potential to exacerbate.
- The UN has an important convening and norm-setting role because AI is inherently a global issue. The corporate and geopolitical AI “arms race” is such that zero incentives are in place for corporations to act in humanity’s best interest, nor for governments to compel them to do so. Oxfam supports the UN helping build convergence around common human-rights standards, interoperability and accountability; coordinating otherwise fragmented international processes; strengthening AI capacity and creating meaningful space for countries and communities currently excluded from AI governance. The added value is precisely that global AI governance must not be dictated by a handful of powerful governments and technology companies.
Note on “Latest News Headlines”: the fact that leading AI companies themselves now saying existing safeguards are inadequate simply reinforces the need for robust & enforceable public governance. However, regulation must also address harms already being experienced (surveillance, labor disruption, discrimination, disinformation, deep fakes, environmental impacts and concentrated corporate power) alongside these emerging frontier risks.
Note on “Inevitability” Narrative: a rhetoric of inevitability envelopes AI, but in reality, the AI industry is like a casino right now: there is much more money being paid in than being paid out, and the risks are poorly understood by most of the gamblers. However, what seems unstoppable would quickly grind to a complete halt if the money stopped flowing in. This is why Oxfam is engaging investors and corporations, as well as those who are responsible for creating sane, humane, enforceable and forward-looking public policy. We collectively bear and must collectively mitigate this entire catalogue of risks, from individual to societal to existential.
Información de contacto
Lauren Hartnett; lauren.harnett@oxfam.org, Mobile/whatsapp: +1(203)247-3920
Oxfam is also co-hosting an “IIDEAS Summit” on September 24 with Amano, and other partners – an event focused on Artificial Intelligence for Human Progress, Nature and Resilient Systems, Health Systems for the Next Generation, and Financing the Future (Invitation-only).
Oxfam’s position on AI (particularly in the context of the UN) is:
- AI needs effective, enforceable, rights-based governance - not reliance on voluntary corporate commitments. Regulation should cover the full AI lifecycle and require transparency, accountability, human oversight, human-rights due diligence and human-rights impact assessment, as well as meaningful redress & remedy where harms occur. Governance must address AI's effects on inequality, work, civic participation, mis/dis-information and the environment, in addition to the technical safety concerns currently making headlines.
- AI governance must confront unequal power, not just individual harms. A tiny number of companies and countries control almost all of the data, infrastructure, frontier models and expertise that underpin AI. Oxfam supports any measure that constrains monopoly power, promotes open & interoperable systems and digital public goods, expands AI capacity in Global South countries, ensures that AI's benefits and decision-making power are distributed, and ensures the externalities & harms are not simply borne by the most vulnerable/least powerful.
- People affected by AI must have meaningful agency in governing it. Decisions about whether, where and how AI systems are developed and deployed should not be determined solely by powerful technology companies or powerful states. Workers, civil society, affected communities and countries of the Global South need meaningful participation, with particular focus on the dimensions of intersectional inequality that AI has the potential to exacerbate.
- The UN has an important convening and norm-setting role because AI is inherently a global issue. The corporate and geopolitical AI “arms race” is such that zero incentives are in place for corporations to act in humanity’s best interest, nor for governments to compel them to do so. Oxfam supports the UN helping build convergence around common human-rights standards, interoperability and accountability; coordinating otherwise fragmented international processes; strengthening AI capacity and creating meaningful space for countries and communities currently excluded from AI governance. The added value is precisely that global AI governance must not be dictated by a handful of powerful governments and technology companies.
Note on “Latest News Headlines”: the fact that leading AI companies themselves now saying existing safeguards are inadequate simply reinforces the need for robust & enforceable public governance. However, regulation must also address harms already being experienced (surveillance, labor disruption, discrimination, disinformation, deep fakes, environmental impacts and concentrated corporate power) alongside these emerging frontier risks.
Note on “Inevitability” Narrative: a rhetoric of inevitability envelopes AI, but in reality, the AI industry is like a casino right now: there is much more money being paid in than being paid out, and the risks are poorly understood by most of the gamblers. However, what seems unstoppable would quickly grind to a complete halt if the money stopped flowing in. This is why Oxfam is engaging investors and corporations, as well as those who are responsible for creating sane, humane, enforceable and forward-looking public policy. We collectively bear and must collectively mitigate this entire catalogue of risks, from individual to societal to existential.
Lauren Hartnett; lauren.harnett@oxfam.org, Mobile/whatsapp: +1(203)247-3920