IMF urges India, US, and China to build guardrails against AI-driven market volatility

“If there are no safeguards, then the risks may exceed the opportunities. And above all, we do need an ethical foundation, and I'm not sure we are there as a society,” Georgieva said. The discussion comes as governments and technology companies debate how to manage AI’s impact on economic growth, employment, productivity and financial stability. However, the IMF did not outline specific proposals from India or China for a global AI framework.

What does IMF want from India, US and China? Georgieva said countries with major AI industries and those that form part of the technology’s supply chain should participate in discussions on safeguards. Her remarks put India, the US and China among the economies expected to have a role in shaping the debate, but she did not assign specific responsibilities to each country. She backed a combination of industry self-regulation and government involvement, saying that policymakers may struggle to keep pace with rapid technological change.

’ and deliver election results as Anthropic prepares for midterms Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark, who joined the panel, said that safeguards should not depend entirely on voluntary commitments. “Yes. We need common sense standards, and that's how you ultimately give confidence in the technology and build the economy,” Clark said when asked whether he favoured regulation by countries that produce AI, Reuters reported.

The IMF’s official programme for its October 16 seminar, “AI and the Global Economy: From Risk to Opportunity”, identified productivity, employment, financial stability, public policy and economic resilience as key areas for discussion. It also highlighted the need to prepare workers for an AI-driven economy, encourage innovation and ensure that the benefits reach a wider share of society. The discussion did not establish a detailed global rulebook.

Why is US pushing to rename AI as ‘super intelligence’? The US is separately seeking international support for using “super intelligence” instead of “artificial intelligence” in official discussions. US Treasury Undersecretary for International Affairs Erin Browne said Washington was negotiating with other shareholders of the IMF over the wording of a statement by the fund’s steering committee, the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), reported Reuters.

Infographic enhanced using ChatGPT AI The proposal follows US President Donald Trump’s directive last month for government agencies to use “super intelligence” when referring to the technology. “President Trump has been really clear on this, and he’s, you know, using the term SI, and I think it’s a clear priority for the US to use that term, and we think that more appropriately encapsulates the technology at hand,” Browne told Reuters.

She said Washington viewed the technology as a driver of productivity and economic growth and believed other countries looked to the US for leadership on standards. 52 trillion GDP The proposal has not received universal support. German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil told Reuters, “I will continue to call it artificial intelligence.” Negotiations over the IMFC statement were still under way, Reuters reported.

One option discussed was to avoid both terms and refer to the technology more generally as “new technology”. The report did not establish whether members would accept the US proposal. The terminology debate is separate from the IMF chief’s call for safeguards. While Washington is seeking a change in how AI is described in international statements, Georgieva has emphasised the need for an ethical framework and measures to manage the technology’s risks.

What economic risks does IMF see Georgieva warned that AI could create economic risks if its promised productivity gains failed to materialise as quickly as businesses and investors expected. Companies have invested heavily in AI hardware, software and data centres. If the returns fall short of expectations, the resulting losses could affect financial markets and the wider economy. Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel warned that AI could increase global economic imbalances because of the large investments required to develop the technology.

Harvard economist Dani Rodrik outlined two possible risks: significant job losses if AI delivers the expected productivity gains, or a costly financial correction if those gains fail to justify the investment. “We don't know which one of those two crises we're going to have to deal with — whether it's the jobs crisis or the financial crisis,” Rodrik told Reuters after an interdisciplinary conference in Berlin.

The IMF’s concerns extend beyond investment and employment. Georgieva said countries also need adequate digital infrastructure, reliable electricity and appropriate regulation to ensure that people can benefit from AI. The IMF’s seminar programme identified technological disruption, market concentration, cybersecurity and financial stability as areas requiring attention. These are risks for policymakers to assess, rather than evidence that every country faces the same level of exposure.

For India, the US and China, their specific contributions to any future global framework remain unclear. The IMF chief has called for major AI economies and supply-chain countries to participate in shaping safeguards, while Washington continues to seek international acceptance of its preferred terminology.