Global problems demand global solutions. In the 1990s, international organizations faced a critical challenge: bridging the gap in vaccine access between wealthy and poor nations to protect children in vulnerable populations through increased immunization coverage. Now, with the rapid development of AI, we are confronted with a similar challenge: narrowing the gap in AI development capacity between the Global North and Global South.

 

A key barrier preventing companies in the Global South from entering the AI f ield is the lack of affordable compute power for training AI models. This paper examines how the vaccine challenge was successfully addressed through GAVI, which has helped prevent over 17 million future deaths since 20001. Moreover, it highlights how GAVI’s approach can inspire and inform strategies for addressing the challenges of AI development throughout the Global South.

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