Speaking at the UN Summit of the Future on Saturday, Google CEO Sundar Pichai described AI as “the most transformative technology yet” and announced a new initiative aimed at global AI education and training.

Pichai highlighted four key opportunities for AI in sustainable development: enhancing access to information in various languages, accelerating scientific discovery, providing alerts and tracking for climate-related disasters, and driving economic growth.

While acknowledging the risks associated with AI, such as deepfakes, he did not address its effects on the climate. He expressed his desire to prevent a global “AI divide” and revealed that Google will establish a $120 million Global AI Opportunity Fund to facilitate AI education and training in communities worldwide, in collaboration with local nonprofits and NGOs.

Additionally, Pichai emphasized the need for “smart product regulation” to mitigate potential harms and avoid protectionist tendencies. He warned that poor regulation could exacerbate the AI divide and limit the technology's benefits.