Sovereign AI Interest Group
Sovereignty-aligned AI means the delegation sets the terms: which model is used, what data goes into it, who may inspect what happened, and the right to refuse. Data sovereignty, decision sovereignty, and the integrity of the process.
These tools can equalise the multilateral space. They remove the language barrier, they read the documents nobody has time to read, and they give a two-person delegation some of the reach of a fifty-person one.
They can also do the opposite. The same tools can concentrate the process further, around whoever owns the model and sees what is typed into it.
Which of the two we get depends on how the technology is used, and that is a question of integrity. What data goes in, who may inspect what happened, who owns the decision at the end. This group is here to drive that conversation and to keep the standard high. Chapter 10 sets out the trade-off, and chapter 11 what running your own now costs.
So we host dinners and workshops at the Rio conferences, with virtual sessions in between. We run them with AI4PG, the academic AI community, so the workshops hold to scientific guidelines.
Second week of UNCCD COP17
Sovereignty-Aligned AI for Multilateral Diplomacy Dinner
The conversation ran on three questions: who controls the data an AI works from, and on whose consent; how much of a decision can be handed to a machine; and who answers for the result. On the last one the room settled early. AI should support the person making the decision, and responsibility stays with that person, however autonomous the tool becomes.
On fairness, the tools cut both ways. Translation, document work, and negotiation support give small delegations more reach. The delegations with the most resources stand to gain even more, and a simulated negotiation cannot make the politics underneath it fair.
The evening ended with an agreement to continue: a community of practice across the conventions, sharing experience and building practical guidance for using AI responsibly in international processes. Yerevan is next.
Where we will be
All three Rio conventions meet this year, on three continents, with largely the same delegations at each. We will be at all three.
- UNCCD COP17Land and droughtUlaanbaatar, Mongolia17 to 28 August 2026Dinner held 25 August
- CBD COP17BiodiversityYerevan, Armenia19 to 30 October 2026Dinner, date to come
- UNFCCC COP31ClimateAntalya, Türkiye9 to 20 November 2026Dinner, date to come
What we are looking for
Mostly, partners who want to try sovereignty-aligned AI with us rather than talk about it.
- Trial the technology together. Put an open model on your own hardware, use it through a real negotiation, and tell us what broke.
- Co-host a dinner or workshop in Yerevan or Antalya.
- Bring a hard question: data residency, procurement, evaluation.
- Send someone who has to live with the decision.
Write to team@gainforest.net.
GainForest and the
Youth Negotiators Academy
team@gainforest.net