The Trump administration’s recently announced AI Action Plan marks one of the most ambitious attempts to consolidate global leadership in artificial intelligence. Built on three main pillars — deregulation at home, exporting a US-controlled “AI technology stack” to its allies, and curbing China’s technological rise — the plan is a strategy document shaped by Washington’s own geopolitical thinking. Yet while it may help accelerate US competitiveness, the policy raises serious concerns for countries of the Global South by not meaningfully grappling with the need of lower-income nations, reinforcing their structural dependency and risking regulatory backsliding at a time when climate resilience and equitable development are already under strain.
The plan’s focus on deregulation threatens to deepen the Global South’s exposure to climate vulnerabilities. By rolling back Biden-era safeguards and loosening environmental regulations, such as the permitting process under the Clean Water Act, the US has shown that climate is not the priority compared to gaining a technological lead. This sets a dangerous example. Other countries joining the AI race might feel pressured to lower their own climate standards, thinking that having strict environmental rules will make them less competitive. This could result in a global race to the bottom where climate promises are thrown aside just for the promise of AI gains.
This would be very devastating for the Global South, which is already carrying an outsize burden from the effects of climate change. According to the World Meteorological Organization, more than 90% of all climate-related casualties over the past half-century have taken place in the Global South, and according to the World Bank, changes in climate may displace 143 million people by 2050. From severe flooding in South Asia to unprecedented droughts in East Africa, many of these countries don’t have the infrastructure and resources needed to handle such crises.
The US’s deregulation push also stirs up more immediate problems, particularly concerning AI’s huge infrastructure needs. Data centers — core to AI progress — are extremely resource-hungry, needing significant energy and water. A 2023 study by the Environmental and Energy Study Institute non-profit found that a single large data center may use as much as 5 million gallons of water per day for cooling, often in locations already short of water.
In countries like India, South Africa, and Brazil, water scarcity is already a big issue. As Shruti Kapil notes in her study on India’s water security that over 600 million Indians face high to extreme water stress, with 200,000 deaths annually due to inadequate safe drinking water. Water shortages are already common across parts of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Encouraging water-intensive data centers without strict environmental oversight will likely only make the issue worse. For the Global South, where basic services are often disrupted due to water and energy shortages, this kind of unchecked AI expansion is a major threat.
Additionally, the plan will make economic inequality worse by ignoring the Global South in its export strategy. The words of the plan are clear: US AI exports are for “allies and partners” and “likeminded nations” — not developing ones. This means that the specific needs of Global South — like affordable tech access, local skills training, and labor protections — likely won’t figure into US planning. Still, US-developed AI tools will come to these markets indirectly via multinationals and domestic groups linked to American suppliers.
