Op-Ed: AI Governance Is 'Impossible' for Now

Divergent definitions and timelines stall meaningful global governance efforts
Posted May 13, 2026 9:57 AM CDT
Op-Ed: Why the World Can't Agree on Policing AI
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, right, watches a video with Disney's robotic Olaff during an Nvidia conference focusing on artificial intelligence in San Jose, Calif., Monday, March 16, 2026.   (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group via AP)

There's a basic reason global talks on artificial intelligence keep stalling: countries aren't even aligned on what AI means, let alone how fast it's advancing, according to technology experts at University College London. For some, AI is ChatGPT-style tools; for others, it's looming superintelligence; for others still, it's everyday algorithms. That makes it hard to decide which systems need rules and why, Sarosh Nagar and David Eaves write in an opinion piece at Foreign Policy, arguing that until clear definitions are decided upon, "governance is impossible."

Questions of how transformative AI will be and how quickly change might come are crucial to deciding policy. Nagar and Eaves note that governments predicting rapid, total overhauls are likely to align with leaders, like the United States and China, to secure access. Governments confident in slower impacts in certain sectors, meanwhile, may sit back and build their own domestic systems. This divergence makes it "difficult to develop a shared agenda or set of priorities," as countries disagree sharply on what benefits and risks ought to be addressed, the researchers write. And the power players dominating computing power and top models have little incentive to hand authority to global bodies. For more on why international action on AI appears far off, read the full piece.

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