Stanford Graduate School of Business · World Development Report 2026: The Promise of AI - Welcome Remarks

1. 1. The World Development Report 2026 focuses on the promise of artificial intelligence, marking the first time the World Bank's flagship report addresses AI.
2. 2. The current narrative around AI oscillates wildly between maximal productivity enhancement and apocalyptic warnings, making it hard for governments and firms to know how to respond.
3. 3. The World Development Report 2026 asks not just what AI can do, but what it will take for low- and middle-income countries to use AI productively.
4. 4. Debates about AI in developed economies focus on labor market consequences and downside risks, while emerging economies see positive applications that could solve century-old problems in a decade.
5. 5. Susan Athey's background note for the report argues that the development community must move away from doing a million pilots and instead identify which pilots are useful, how to evaluate success, kill bad ones, and scale good ones.
6. 6. Professor Ufuk Akcigit warns that the race towards AI is being overshadowed by downside risks, leading to premature mandatory regulations that could entrench leading companies and block competition.
7. 7. The report was shaped by conversations in about 20 middle-income countries, where views on AI are largely optimistic, in contrast to the pessimistic views in developed economies.
8. 8. The World Development Report has been published annually since 1978, and this year's edition is the first to focus on artificial intelligence.