New Delhi, Feb 18 There is an urgent need to close the artificial intelligence (AI) 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.
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