Global AI governance stalls as geopolitical rivalries and corporate capture undermine equitable, democratic control frameworks
Original framing: “Burnham to call for global effort to control threats posed by AI” — Financial Times
The **trickster** here is **Hermes/Mercury**, the messenger god who exposes the absurdity of power’s self-seriousness—revealing how ‘AI governance’ is a **geopolitical charade** where leaders like Trump and Sunak perform unity while secretly escalating an **AI arms race**. Like **Anansi’s spider**, who weaves tales to trap the greedy, the current narrative **traps us in a loop of fear and false solutions**: we’re told AI is an ‘existential threat’ to justify **more surveillance, more military AI, and more corporate control**—yet the real trick is that **the system is already broken**, and these meetings are **rituals of distraction**. **Eshu’s (Yoruba trickster) lesson** would be to ask: *Who benefits when we obsess over ‘rogue AI’ instead of the **real rogues**—the oligarchs and states deploying AI for profit and war?* The trickster reading forces us to see that **the ‘AI crisis’ is a mirror**: it reflects our collective failure to govern technology democratically.
The current ‘global effort’ on AI governance is a **geopolitical theatre**, where Western leaders like Sunak and Trump perform unity while **accelerating an AI arms race** and **consolidating corporate power**.
The real crisis isn’t rogue algorithms but the **structural capture of governance by states and tech monopolies**, a pattern repeated from **nuclear proliferation to climate inaction**. Historical precedents—like the **1990s ‘digital divide’ debates** or the **2010s ‘AI ethics’ co-optation**—show how **elite panic over hypothetical risks** has always been used to **justify deregulation and militarisation**. The solution lies in **decolonising governance**: replacing **neoliberal technocracy** with **Indigenous data sovereignty**, **polycentric regional control**, and **public ownership of AI infrastructure**. The **trickster dimension** reveals the absurdity of treating AI as a ‘threat’ while ignoring the **real rogues**—the oligarchs, militaries, and lobbyists who profit from unchecked expansion. Without **radical decentralisation, Indigenous leadership, and subversive disruption**, the ‘global effort’ will remain what it is: **a distraction from the systemic failure to govern technology democratically.