The World Bank has advised developing economies not to compete with advanced economies in building large models or data centres, saying they do not need that to harness the benefits of artificial intelligence.
- +World Bank tells developing economies to stop chasing big AI models
The World Bank Group stated this in its World Development Report 2026: The Promise of Artificial Intelligence released on Tuesday.
The World Bank Group stated this in its World Development Report 2026: The Promise of Artificial Intelligence released on Tuesday.
According to the bank, developing economies are currently experiencing their weakest average growth performance in three decades, and AI could significantly boost that performance before the end of the 2020s.
World Bank Group Senior Vice President and Chief Economist Indermit Gill said developing countries do not need to build large AI models or data centres to benefit from the technology, but they must act urgently.
Gaurav Nayyar, Director of the World Development Report 2026, also warned that the window to get AI adoption right is narrow and that foundational investments cannot be deferred.
The report itself finds that challenges the dominant narrative around AI and job displacement, showing that workers in developing countries face significantly lower automation risk than those in wealthier nations.
It says that 16.2% of jobs in developing economies could see productivity meaningfully boosted by AI, close to the 18.7% expected in high-income countries, suggesting the technology’s greatest promise for the developing world lies in amplifying what workers can do rather than replacing them.
Despite the economic potential of artificial intelligence as laid out by the World Bank, Nigeria has been warned that it could miss out on the gains from the technology if it fails to build the right regulatory and institutional foundations.
Last month, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of CarbonAI, Debola Ibiyode, warned that Nigeria risks undermining the economic potential of AI if it fails to develop strong regulatory guardrails.
She argued that regulation should not be viewed as a barrier to innovation but as an essential foundation for sustainable AI-driven growth.
Her comments align with the World Bank’s broader assessment that institutions will play a critical role in determining whether developing economies benefit from AI.
A separate finding by the World Bank report shows that AI adoption among Nigerian formal businesses has accelerated sharply over the past three years.
The World Bank identified Nigeria and Kenya as examples of developing economies where businesses have rapidly increased their use of AI technologies.
The growth reflects the expanding accessibility of generative AI tools, which have become cheaper, easier to deploy and more practical for businesses seeking to improve productivity and streamline operations.
