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Microsoft Urges Action to Close Widening AI Divide Between Global North and South

Microsoft Vice Chair Brad Smith has issued an urgent warning about a growing artificial intelligence divide between the Global North and South. He revealed that at the end of 2025, 25% of the working-age population in the North used AI, compared to only 14% in the South, with the gap widening. Smith called for harnessing public capital to build necessary infrastructure and prevent AI from perpetuating historical economic disparities. Concurrently, Microsoft announced a $50 billion investment plan for the Global South and launched an AI educator program in India aimed at two million teachers.

Key Points: Microsoft's Brad Smith on Urgent Need to Bridge AI Divide

  • AI usage gap between Global North and South
  • Urgent call for public capital investment
  • Microsoft's $50B pledge for Global South AI
  • New educator program launched in India
2 min read

Urgent need to bridge AI divide between Global North and South: Microsoft's Brad Smith

Microsoft VP Brad Smith warns of a growing AI access gap between Global North and South, calling for urgent public investment to prevent economic disparity.

"This is the new divide, and it's getting worse, not better. - Brad Smith"

New Delhi, Feb 18

There is an urgent need to close the artificial intelligence divide between the Global North and South, Microsoft Vice Chair and President, Brad Smith, said here on Wednesday.

Speaking at a session during the 'India AI Impact Summit 2026' here, he said the economic divide was created by unequal access to technology, specifically electricity.

"Technology, for over a century, drove industrialisation and prosperity across the Global North before it really took off in the South," Smith said.

"At the end of 2025, 25 per cent of the Global North working age population was using AI, compared to only 14 per cent in the South. This is the new divide, and it's getting worse, not better," he told the gathering.

In the second half of 2025, the growth rate in the North was 1.8 per cent, but in the South, only 1.0 per cent.

"We have to address this with urgency," he noted.

The Microsoft President also said that this may be the best opportunity for the Global South to catch up. "We need to harness the public capital. We need to generate demand that will unleash more capital to build the infrastructure that the global south needs," he emphasised.

Smith further stated that the 'India AI Impact Summit' has rightly placed this challenge at the centre of its agenda. "For more than a century, unequal access to electricity exacerbated a growing economic gap between the Global North and South. Unless we act with urgency, a growing AI divide will perpetuate this disparity in the century ahead," he mentioned.

Earlier in the day, Microsoft said it is on pace to invest $50 billion by the end of the decade to help bring AI to countries across the Global South. Microsoft also announced the launch of Elevate for Educators in India to strengthen the capacity of two million teachers across more than 200,000 schools, vocational institutes, and higher education settings.

"Our goal is to help the country's teaching workforce lead confidently in an AI‑driven future. The program will be delivered in partnership with India's national education and workforce training authorities, expanding equitable AI opportunities for eight million students," the company said.

- IANS

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Reader Comments

A
Arjun K
Finally, someone is saying it loud and clear. The comparison with electricity access is spot on. We cannot afford to miss the AI bus like we did with earlier industrial revolutions. Government and private sector need to work together on infrastructure and skilling. Jai Hind!
R
Rohit P
$50 billion sounds impressive, but will it actually reach the classrooms in rural Bihar or Uttar Pradesh? Hope it's not just another corporate announcement. The focus on teachers is good, but we also need affordable data and hardware for students.
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Sarah B
Working in tech here in Bangalore, I see this divide daily. The talent pool is incredible, but access to cutting-edge tools and compute power is still concentrated. Bridging this gap isn't just charity; it's essential for global innovation. The South has so much to contribute.
V
Vikram M
Good to see this discussed at a summit in Delhi. The numbers are worrying - 14% vs 25%. We need to move beyond metros. AI for agriculture, local language models, healthcare diagnostics for villages - that's where the real impact will be. Let's build solutions for our own problems first.
K
Kavya N
While I appreciate the sentiment, the speech feels a bit like it's coming from the very side of the divide he's describing. True partnership means more than investment; it means sharing control, IP, and letting local innovators lead. The "Global South" is not a monolith. India's path will be its own.

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