President Cyril Ramaphosa addressing the BRICS Leaders' meeting in New Delhi. Photo Credit: NNA News

NNA News - South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for the establishment of an international mechanism within BRICS to independently evaluate artificial intelligence, arguing that human governance must keep pace with the rapid development of AI systems.

Speaking during the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi on Sunday, Ramaphosa said increasingly powerful AI models were reshaping economic and social life and could contribute to productivity and human development if used responsibly. “South Africa accordingly proposes that BRICS should establish an international mechanism for the independent scientific evaluation of AI,” Ramaphosa said.

The proposal forms part of South Africa's call for stronger international cooperation on AI governance as BRICS expands its focus on science, technology and innovation. Ramaphosa said the proposed mechanism should be supported by meaningful human-control principles, mandatory reporting of serious incidents, progressively stronger safeguards as AI capabilities increase and investment in sovereign AI capacity for developing economies.

He warned that advances in AI were creating both opportunities and risks, including the potential for increasingly autonomous systems to challenge human oversight. “We must never reach a situation where technological capability has moved beyond our capacity to understand it, supervise it and control it,” he said.

Ramaphosa also referred to concerns raised by Dario Amodei, chief executive officer of US-based AI company Anthropic, who has called for formal external checks, audits and government oversight of AI companies. Ramaphosa said such oversight was comparable to safeguards used in industries including aviation, pharmaceuticals, nuclear power and financial services.

The South African president's intervention came as China advanced a separate proposal for deeper AI cooperation within BRICS. Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Sunday that China would take the lead in establishing a BRICS AI open-source community, with cooperation on the development and application of large language models, specialised AI training and the creation of an open AI ecosystem.

Xi also called on BRICS countries to accelerate efforts towards a consensus-based global AI governance framework, linking technological development to the broader development priorities of the Global South. The two proposals highlight the growing importance of AI within BRICS cooperation, with member states seeking to expand technological capacity while addressing questions of safety, governance and equitable access.

For South Africa, Ramaphosa said greater AI capacity should be accompanied by investment in sovereign capabilities in developing economies, allowing countries to participate more effectively in the development and application of emerging technologies. The Presidency said Ramaphosa's broader BRICS agenda includes deeper cooperation in science and technology, public health, finance and trade as the grouping enters its third decade.

The 18th BRICS Summit was held in New Delhi from September 12 to 13 under India's chairship, with discussions focused on resilience, innovation, cooperation and security.