Why AI needs a global referee
July 21, 2026
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ask ian
Ian Bremmer takes a look at the week's top stories in geopolitics.
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In this “ask ian,” Ian Bremmer argues that the debate over whether the United States or China will lead artificial intelligence is overshadowing a more important question: who will govern a technology advancing faster than governments can regulate?
"It can't just be the tech companies. It can't just be the US government," Ian says, arguing that AI oversight must eventually extend beyond Washington and its allies because the technology itself is global.
Ian points out that Chinese AI models are already widely used by startups because they are cheaper and increasingly competitive with American alternatives. That reality, he argues, makes unilateral regulation ineffective.
Looking to history, Ian compares AI to other global challenges that required countries to work together, including nuclear weapons and financial crises. He argues that no single country or company can manage the risks alone.
Instead, governments around the world will need to find ways to monitor AI, communicate potential threats, and prevent the technology from being used in harmful ways.
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