Jul 30, 2025

Beyond US and China: 3 ways every nation can prepare for AGI

The US and China are racing towards building artificial general intelligence (AGI) — highly autonomous systems that outperform humans at most economically valuable work.

It feels like the rest of the world is just watching from the sidelines, particularly for developing countries, which have no OpenAI, no DeepMind, no DeepSeek, no massive data centres and therefore no seat at the table.

I worry about what happens when a single person can command a team of AI agents to hack critical national infrastructure, when deepfakes flood the internet during elections, when a terrorist develops and deploys a deadly virus that launches the world into another pandemic.

I worry because AI systems are improving rapidly, and I don’t think we are prepared.

People sometimes ask me: 'How can I help with AI safety?' Especially friends from across Southeast Asia, where the conversation feels impossibly distant. Where every discussion centers on the US, UK, EU or China.

For a long time, I wondered too. Is the only way to make a difference really to uproot ourselves? To leave our communities, just to help ensure we build AI safely?

One answer I’ve come to is that though we may not be able to stop or shape how AGI is developed, we can — and must — prepare. Borders will not hold back AI-enabled threats.

The threats are already here

Much of the world is focused on harnessing AI’s benefits. But there is dangerously little understanding of:

• how fast the technology is developing,
• what capabilities tomorrow’s systems might have, and
• what risks those capabilities bring

We need to be ready, and that means building defense in depth: multiple, independent layers of protection.

The reality is that most nations have no control over the first three layers (prevent, detect, and constrain). Few countries have (or can build) the leverage to influence AI development, whether that is through regulation, AI chips or market access.

But every nation can (and should) invest in the fourth layer (withstand): building resilience against AI-enabled threats, so we can adapt and thrive in a world where these powerful systems are everywhere.

Here’s how.

Cybersecurity

AI agents are becoming better at discovering and exploiting software vulnerabilities. That means greater risks of attacks on critical infrastructure like power grids, water supplies, hospitals, and transportation systems.

Even states like North Korea are using AI to improve cyber theft and fund weapons programs by conducting more sophisticated phishing attacks and enhancing productivity.

To protect against this, governments should:

• Run red teaming exercises simulating AI-assisted attacks
• Patch vulnerabilities in critical national infrastructure
• Train rapid response teams to respond to attacks

Estonia shows what’s possible, having invested in cybersecurity as a core element of national security after a 2007 cyberattack shut down its government websites and financial systems. This included investing in educating its citizens on cyber hygiene and secure digital public services.

Pandemic preparedness

Today’s AI systems improve the ability of novices to design and deploy bioweapons. They can troubleshoot wet-lab problems, propose dangerous compounds to synthesise and walk users step-by-step through deployment strategies — all without the user needing deep biology expertise.

Nations can invest in biosecurity by:

• Preventing patient zero by investing in laboratory biosafety and DNA synthesis screening
• Detecting early outbreaks with pathogen monitoring in hospitals and public spaces
• Stockpiling PPE and medical supplies
• Developing rapid-response protocols in advance

These steps are also a part of a proven playbook to build a pandemic-proof world.

Information security

AI-generated content is eroding trust in what people see and hear with real consequences for democracy, public health, and crisis response.

We’re already seeing Iran and Israel use AI-generated content to wage psychological warfare, spreading fabricated images of bombings that never happened.

Nations can protect information ecosystems by:

• Building content authentication systems
• Training rapid debunking teams
• Promoting media literacy to help citizens identify AI manipulation
• Establishing verified channels for crisis communication

Taiwan, for example, has a one-hour response window to debunk viral misinformation, particularly during election season. It works by combining civil society fact-checkers, government teams, and creative public messaging.

We don’t need to be spectators

From Malaysia, to Kenya, to Peru — we watch the US and China race towards building humanity’s most transformative technology. But this isn’t just their story. It's ours too.

History shows that transformative technologies reshape the world in unexpected ways, with developing nations paying the cost of transition. The climate crisis propelled Western nations forward with disproportionate environmental impacts on the rest of the world. Social media algorithms developed in Silicon Valley became a tool for genocide in Myanmar. AI training exploits data workers from low income countries for pennies.

The development and deployment of AGI is no different.

AGI threatens catastrophic terrorism, accelerated war, economic disempowerment, power concentration, but we can prepare. The work starts now. Not with billion-dollar investments or sweeping political change, but with:

• One government official pushing for AI risk to be a priority
• One doctor advocating for disease monitoring at their hospital
• One teacher adding cybersecurity and deepfake detection into their curriculum
• One engineer red-teaming critical infrastructure against AI attacks

AGI development may be concentrated in a few countries, but building resilience is a distributed challenge that we can all contribute to.

We build the best defences against risks we understand. Check out BlueDot's free course: The Future of AI — designed to help people everywhere understand AI’s impact and contribute to the conversation.