About the Coalition
A coalition of Global South nations building a third path in AI governance — between American market excess and Chinese state control.
The AI Middle Way is an international coalition emerging from Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok that proposes a third option for how artificial intelligence is governed and deployed in the world. It is being built by and for the Global South, and it speaks for the four billion people who today generate the data that powers the world's most valuable AI platforms — but who receive almost none of the value in return.
Consciousness must direct intelligence, not the reverse.
Today, most countries are pushed toward one of two AI models:
Highly innovative, but highly unregulated. Market dominance, weak protections, value extracted by a few private platforms.
Highly effective, but highly controlled. State direction, strong implementation, limited room for democratic oversight.
A third path designed by Global South nations themselves — ethically grounded, culturally rooted, and economically fair.
Most countries in Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and South Asia do not fit comfortably inside either Washington or Beijing's model. They need an alternative that respects their sovereignty, protects their citizens' data, and lets them participate in the AI economy as creators of value, not just sources of raw material.
The AI Middle Way is not a think tank report. It is a sequence of national declarations — signed by governments, universities, and civil society partners — that translate the framework into commitments and concrete policies in each country.
The Bangkok Declaration was signed at Chulalongkorn University on April 29, 2026. The Jakarta Declaration follows on June 8, 2026, anchored by Indonesia's leading AI institution, KORIKA. Mexico City, the Vatican, Peru, Brazil, South Africa, and Saudi Arabia are next in the sequence.
Each declaration is paired with a national seminar, partnerships with universities, and a strategy for blended finance to fund AI development that serves the lower-middle class — the 2.1 billion people for whom AI must work if it is to deliver on its promise.
The framework draws on three sources: the Buddhist Middle Way philosophy (avoiding extremes), general systems theory as articulated by Kenneth Boulding, and the biological concept of autopoiesis developed by Maturana and Varela. Together they suggest that healthy AI ecosystems — like healthy living systems — require balance, self-organization, and rootedness in their cultural and ecological context.
A coalition by and for the Global South.
The coalition is co-led by Craig Warren Smith, founder of the Digital Divide Institute, and Professor Soraj Hongladarom, head of philosophy at Chulalongkorn University. Anchor partners include Ilham Habibie in Indonesia, Professor Hammam Riza (President of KORIKA), and a growing network of national leaders across Asia, Latin America, and the Vatican.
Explore the framework, see where the coalition works, or contact us about partnership.