The Hong Kong Global AI Governance Conference (HKGAGC) is a flagship high-level policy conference convening global thinkers and regional leaders in AI research, policy, and practice to explore a critical yet under-explored dimension of AI governance: inclusivity beyond the US-China binary. Eighty percent of the world’s population lives outside China and the United States. Yet how should we meaningfully engage the proverbial “Rest of the World” in conversations about AI governance, regulation, and the future of AI?

Debates around AI policymaking, regulation, and governance have increasingly been dominated by an overwhelming focus on China and the US. The dominant framing revolves around strategic rivalry and competition. Yet we believe this binary framing obscures a vital reality: AI matters profoundly for the 80% of the world’s population living outside these two countries.

When the majority of humanity is excluded from foundational conversations about AI governance, we risk developing frameworks that fail to address diverse contexts, values, and needs. This conference creates space for voices and perspectives that are too often underrepresented in global AI discourse.

This conference will be hosted by the University of Hong Kong’s Musketeers Foundation Institute of Data Sciences (IDS), a leading research center at the intersection of computational science, policy, and societal impact. Hong Kong’s unique position as a bridge between East and West, Global North and South, combined with IDS’s strength in convening interdisciplinary expertise, makes it an ideal location for this conversation.

In an era of growing geopolitical complexity and evolving international dynamics, this conference provides a crucial space for dialogue featuring important voices and experts from China, the US, the UK, Continental Europe, Southeast Asia, and beyond. Our goal is to build understanding and identify pathways for inclusive AI governance that transcends great power competition.