The world faces a narrowing window for shaping AI's relationship to climate and development. Between now and 2027, decisions made about artificial intelligence deployment in the Global South will largely determine whether AI becomes a tool for inclusive, sustainable development—or a vector for accelerating extraction and emissions across the world's poorest regions. There is one leader whose scientific credibility, hemispheric position, and governance experience positions her

In his first eight months as pope, Leo XIV has shown a remarkable gift for reconciliation. He prayed alongside the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, helping the Church "breathe with both lungs" after centuries of division. He welcomed Britain's King Charles III to the Vatican, and together they prayed in the Sistine Chapel—the first time a pope and British monarch have done so since the Reformation. His papacy has been defined by peace-building, spiritual renewal, and a

In an era dominated by oversimplified narratives about great power competition, one scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace has been quietly conducting sophisticated analysis that challenges Western assumptions about Chinese AI regulation. Matt Sheehan, a Stanford graduate fluent in Mandarin, arrived at Carnegie's China program with a mission that would prove both timely and transformative: to reveal the true complexity of how China approaches artificial int

The academic world is losing a towering intellectual presence as Professor Soraj Hongladarom, one of Asia's most influential voices in technology ethics and Buddhist philosophy, enters retirement from Chulalongkorn University. Yet rather than fading from view, Hongladarom's legacy is experiencing a powerful renaissance through the launching of the AI Middle Way Coalition—an ambitious initiative that stands as a testament to decades of collaborative visionary work, particularl

Among the AI experts that fled Open AI, when it reduced its focus on AI governance,  Dario Amodei and his company Athropic deserves special mention in AI Middle Way.  The commercial company is so fully aligned with ethical perspectives that it has actually been funded by foundations from their endowment, including Omidyar Network, Ford Foundation, and Nathan Cummings Foundation which collectively purchased nearly 50,000 shares of Anthropic from the FTX bankruptcy proceedings.

Origins on an Idyllic Island in a family of journalists In the idyllic setting of Whidbey Island in Washington's Puget Sound, a boy grew up surrounded by the values that would define his life's work. Craig Warren Smith's parents were weekly newspaper publishers, carriers of a philosophy called “civic journalism” could serve democracy itself—that the press held a responsibility to reflect a community back to itself with accuracy and possibility. This concept of became embedded

Andrew Chi-Chih Yao,  a professor ot Tsinghua University – the MIT of China –  refuses to be confined by disciplinary boundaries,  moving fluidly between the languages of mathematics and ethics, between Silicon Valley and Beijing, between theoretical rigor and deep humanitarian concern. A Scientist, Not Just an Engineer Andrew Yao's career trajectory tells the story of someone perpetually willing to cross thresholds. As a young physicist at Taiwan's National University, he ma

The Conscience of Silicon Valley Steps into the AI Crisis In an era when artificial intelligence development accelerates faster than our capacity to govern it, one voice has consistently warned of the dangers with both urgency and intellectual rigor: Tristan Harris, co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology and what The Atlantic once called "the closest thing Silicon Valley has to a conscience." His evolution from Google design ethicist to global advocate for AI safety p

The G20's Digital Economy Working Group (DEWG), mody recently led by South African President Ramaphosa, pictured here, operates as an underutilized powerhouse for AI governance coordination. While attention focuses on formal summits, DEWG provides the infrastructure for tech ministers of powerful nations including USA and China to coordinate policy responses – most recently with an emphasis on AI policy. DEWG's convening power creates space supportive of the AI Middle Way ap

The AI Middle Way Coalition's funding architecture represents a sophisticated macroeconomic strategy moving systematically from catalytic philanthropic capital through sovereign wealth funds and development banks to ultimately self-sustaining consumer markets. This creates a complete economic ecosystem for Global South AI deployment that serves the strategic interests of diverse actors while ensuring genuine development for 3.2 billion lower middle-income citizens. Phase One:

When Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman articulated Vision 2030, he identified a profound strategic challenge: how does an oil-dependent economy transition to a diversified digital economy while maintaining regional leadership and global influence? The question grows more urgent as artificial intelligence reshapes global economic architecture. Saudi Arabia now faces a choice that will define its competitive position for the next decade. The AI Middle Way Coalition offers a path

Education—not health or finance—represents the critical foundation for AI Middle Way ecosystems because it uniquely creates the human capabilities enabling all other sectors to benefit from AI transformation. While AI applications in healthcare and finance deliver immediate efficiency gains, educational AI generates compounding returns by enhancing every citizen's capacity to use, adapt, and ultimately create AI systems serving local needs. The Primacy of Educational Investme