{"id":124525,"date":"2026-09-15T11:10:29","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T05:40:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=124525"},"modified":"2026-09-15T11:10:29","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T05:40:29","slug":"brics-open-source-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/brics-open-source-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"BRICS Open-Source AI: China\u2019s Proposal and India\u2019s Position"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>BRICS Open-Source AI Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the BRICS Summit in New Delhi, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed setting up a <\/span><b>BRICS open-source artificial intelligence (AI) community<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">China offered to support cooperation among member countries on developing and deploying large language models (LLMs), AI training and a common digital cloud platform.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The initiative could widen Beijing&#8217;s effort to position its AI technology as an alternative to proprietary systems controlled largely by American companies.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The proposal has particular relevance for India, which has also pushed for wider access to compute, datasets and AI models for developing countries.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>What Xi Proposed<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Xi said China would take the lead in establishing a &#8220;<\/span><b><i>BRICS AI open source community<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;. The proposal has several components:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cooperation on large language models.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Specialised AI seminars and training courses.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An open ecosystem for AI.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A separate BRICS digital ecosystem cloud platform.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Expanded cooperation on digital skills, technology exchanges and intelligent manufacturing.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This builds on China&#8217;s growing outreach to developing countries. At the <\/span><b>World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in July 2026, Xi announced 5,000 AI training and seminar opportunities for developing countries over five years.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He also proposed AI application cooperation centres with groupings including BRICS, ASEAN and the African Union.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>What BRICS Actually Agreed To<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Xi&#8217;s proposal has <\/span><b>not been adopted<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as a BRICS-wide programme. The New Delhi Declaration issued after the summit does not mention the open-source community or the cloud platform.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Instead, it:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Commits BRICS countries more broadly to cooperation on improving access to AI resources.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Emphasises safety, security, reliability and inclusiveness.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Refers to an earlier BRICS statement on global AI governance and pledges continued cooperation in this area.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since China takes over the BRICS chairship in 2027, it could place these proposals before the grouping again.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Why China Is Promoting Open AI Models<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The proposal comes as Chinese companies release a growing number of <\/span><b>open-weight AI models<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">DeepSeek and Alibaba&#8217;s Qwen family of models can be downloaded and run by developers on their own infrastructure, subject to their licences.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This differs from <\/span><b>closed models<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which are generally accessed through APIs controlled by companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic and Google.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">China has increasingly linked open AI with access for developing countries. It argues that AI should be more affordable and accessible globally.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The BRICS proposal would extend this approach into a multilateral grouping spanning large developing economies across Asia, Africa, Latin America and West Asia.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>The US-China Divergence in AI<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">China&#8217;s push to widen access to its AI ecosystem coincides with a debate in the United States about how Beijing&#8217;s progress should shape efforts to regulate or slow advanced AI development.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The American ecosystem views China as perhaps its biggest competitor.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As per the analysts:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Any US attempt to slow powerful AI systems must account for China&#8217;s pace of progress.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If US companies slowed down while Chinese labs advanced, China could close or reverse the technological gap.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A long-term global slowdown of frontier AI would require some form of agreement with China.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Such an arrangement would <\/span><b>resemble Cold War-era arms-control agreements<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, with verification being critical, since either side could gain by secretly continuing development.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Where India Fits<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India and China both aspire to lead the Global South, though Beijing currently holds a clear edge in AI capabilities.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India has repeatedly called for wider access to AI resources:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the AI Impact Summit earlier this year, the government pushed for broader access to compute, datasets, models and AI infrastructure, especially for developing countries.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Through the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/indiaai-mission\/\" target=\"_blank\"><b>IndiaAI Mission<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, India is investing public money in domestic AI capacity, including subsidised compute infrastructure and support for Indian foundation models and datasets.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Any BRICS initiative on shared models or cloud infrastructure would therefore sit alongside New Delhi&#8217;s own effort to expand AI access without relying entirely on foreign technology providers.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Unanswered Questions<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For now, there is no formal BRICS open-source AI platform. Xi&#8217;s announcement remains a Chinese proposal.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Neither the New Delhi Declaration nor other summit documents specify:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Which models would be used;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Where common cloud infrastructure would be hosted;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How data would be handled;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Which countries would participate<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These details will determine how substantial the initiative becomes when China assumes the BRICS chairship in 2027.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source:<\/b> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/explained-ai\/brics-ai-open-source-community-xi-jinping-10877061\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BRICS open-source AI could expand cooperation on LLMs, AI training and cloud infrastructure, but India must balance technology access with strategic autonomy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":124537,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[10256,60,22,59],"class_list":["post-124525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","tag-brics-open-source-ai","tag-mains-articles","tag-upsc-current-affairs","tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","no-featured-image-padding"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124525"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124525\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":124542,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124525\/revisions\/124542"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}