The SA government says it is not a signatory of the AI Action summit agreement, but merely an “observer” of the proceedings.
France listed SA as one of the 60 signatories of the international agreement, including the EU and AU, to ensure sustainable, accessible AI for the public good.
“SA welcomes the initiative of the French authorities but notes that it is only attending the French AI Action Summit in the capacity of observer,” a note from the international relations & co-operation department said on Wednesday. “Therefore, we cannot pronounce on and/or endorse the leaders’ declaration and related outcomes documents.”
While the French presidency did not respond to queries on SA’s initial inclusion on the signatories list, a source close to the matter confirmed that SA was included “by mistake” despite being informed that the country’s delegation was attending as observers.
SA joins the US and UK, who have refrained from endorsing the agreement created as an outcome of the AI Action Summit, co-chaired by France and India.
However, the country said it intends to foster Group of Twenty (G20) engagement on AI for sustainable development.
“We also agree that global initiatives need to be well co-ordinated for the world, under the multilateral system, to speak together given the importance and ramifications of AI in so many areas of human life,” said the department.
The agreement’s priorities, which have been endorsed by countries such as China, France and Switzerland, includes enabling conditions for AI innovation and avoiding market concentration, which drives industrial recovery and development.
It also encourages AI deployment that positively shapes the future of work and labour markets and delivers opportunities for sustainable growth. Thus, it aims to make AI sustainable for people and the planet.
UN secretary-general António Guterres said AI should bridge the gap between developed and developing countries, not widen it.
He stressed that the concentration of AI development and funding in the Global North risks deepening geopolitical divides and it is crucial to prevent a world of AI “haves and have-nots”.
This week, the EU announced a €200bn fund to support regional AI development. At the same time, France launched a €109bn fund to support the development of data centres and accelerate citizen training.
“It’s the equivalent for France of what the US announced with Stargate,” said French President Emmanuel Macron, referring to the $500bn investment announced in mid-January by OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle and MGX for a huge data centre complex, launched under the leadership of US President Donald Trump.
Addressing the plenary session hosted by Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Guterres said it is vital that developing people and countries become AI users and “active participants in the AI revolution”.
“It is in all our interests for governments and technology leaders to commit to global guardrails, share best practices and shape fair policy and business models,” said Guterres. “AI is not standing still, neither can we.”
Other than the EU, countries such as Egypt, Ghana and Senegal have begun formally drafting national AI strategies. However, efforts are required to advance AI regulatory frameworks in Africa.
SA’s AI strategy is based on a policy framework that emphasises the importance of human-centred AI and ensures that it complements human decision-making rather than replacing it. While AI remains largely unregulated in the country, the technology is increasingly used to bridge gaps in healthcare and education.
Vowing that the US would dominate the technology, US vice-president JD Vance warned against “excessive regulation” of AI. He said the world needs international regulatory regimes that foster the creation of AI technology rather than strangles it.
“Excessive regulation of the AI sector could kill a transformative sector just as it’s taking off,” Vance said. “We feel very strongly that AI must remain free from ideological bias and that American AI will not be co-opted into a tool for authoritarian censorship.”
Though experts and researchers agree that accelerating seed funding to bolster the AI start-up ecosystem in SA is required, the recent arrival of a new AI model from China’s DeepSeek, which produced high-level outputs at a reportedly much lower cost, has startled Silicon Valley groups such as OpenAI.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.