Adji Bousso Dieng: AI Monopolies Threaten Africa's Digital Future

• Adji Bousso Dieng argues that public fear of AI's apocalyptic future is exploited to consolidate power among tech giants, leading to digital colonization.
• She contends that "security" concerns are used to stifle open-source AI and protect monopolies, akin to historical colonial tactics.
• An AI-powered health system in Kenya failed by overcharging the poor due to imported models not understanding the local informal economy.
• Dieng advocates for decentralized, transparent, and globally distributed AI development, emphasizing open innovation as the only viable path for developing nations.
• She rejects banning AI or open-source models, instead calling for robust security research, rigorous testing, and human accountability for AI systems.

The panic, she argues, is being strategically deployed to serve a "modern regime of digital colonization," concentrating power in the hands of a few corporations located in a handful of nations.

Adji Bousso Dieng, an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Princeton University, recently articulated a critical perspective on the prevailing discourse surrounding artificial intelligence. In an Al Jazeera tribune published on October 17, 2026, she argued that public preoccupation with hypothetical, apocalyptic AI scenarios distracts from the immediate and tangible problems the technology already presents, such as job displacement, the immense energy consumption of data centers, the spread of automated disinformation, algorithmic discrimination, and military targeting.

Dieng highlights how this narrative of existential threat, echoed by prominent figures including Senator Bernie Sanders, who advocates for banning superintelligence, warnings from the Vatican, and Hillary Clinton's concerns about open-source AI, is being leveraged. While acknowledging the legitimacy of leaders taking these alerts seriously, she contends that this focus diverts attention from current crises impacting labor, the environment, and communication. The panic, she argues, is being strategically deployed to serve a "modern regime of digital colonization," concentrating power in the hands of a few corporations located in a handful of nations.

Dieng further elaborates on how the argument presented to legislators is deceptively simple yet compelling: if advanced AI poses a threat akin to a weapon of mass destruction, then its development should be restricted to a select few "trusted" entities. This reasoning, she asserts, directly targets open-source AI models, which are either free or significantly less expensive, and can be adapted by anyone to suit their specific needs.

She accuses tech giants of exploiting the banner of "security" to influence the creation of regulations designed to protect their monopolies and stifle competition. Dieng draws a stark parallel between these tactics and historical colonial practices, which deliberately hindered local industry development to enforce dependence on goods from the "empire." Consequently, the world, and particularly developing nations, now relies heavily on sophisticated systems designed by these dominant groups, often lacking the resources to build their own models, with a single computation alone potentially exceeding $100 million.

These imported AI tools frequently prove ineffective or even detrimental in local contexts. Adji Bousso Dieng cites a specific instance in Kenya, where an AI-driven system deployed by the social health authority encountered significant issues. The imported model operated on assumptions that failed to account for the extensive informal economy prevalent in the country. As a result, the system systematically overestimated incomes, leading to the poorest citizens being unfairly charged excessive contributions.

Dieng strongly rejects calls to ban AI outright, arguing that such a move would deprive humanity of a powerful technology well-positioned to accelerate discoveries in medicine and provide solutions to energy and climate crises, citing examples like AlphaFold and MOFSeq. She equally opposes prohibiting open-source models, stressing that the pursuit of security should not preclude equitable access to innovation.

Instead, she advocates for substantial funding into robust security research and rigorous testing to address immediate, short-term risks associated with AI. However, she cautions that "the fear of hypothetical futures" must not be used to justify the deliberate consolidation of power in the present. Her vision for AI development is encapsulated in three core demands: a decentralized, transparent, and globally distributed approach; the defense of open innovation as a public good; and the unequivocal placement of responsibility in human hands, rather than entrusting it to AI agents devoid of human understanding. Dieng leads the Vertaix Lab, focusing on AI and natural sciences, and is the founder of The Africa I Know association.

Lawyers and compliance officers should monitor proposed AI legislative frameworks for provisions that could entrench monopolistic practices, hinder local AI development, or lead to discriminatory outcomes (as seen in the Kenya example), and advocate for policies that promote decentralized, transparent, and globally equitable AI innovation, particularly in African markets.

Source: Original reporting via Al Jazeera, published October 17, 2026.