ChatWTO: An Analysis of Generative Artificial Intelligence and International Trade

The report examines how the rapid adoption of generative AI (GAI) is creating divergent national regulations that may lead to cross-border trade frictions. It analyzes the applicability of existing WTO frameworks—including GATS, TRIPS, and TBT—to GAI and recommends that the WTO host educational sessions, review current rules for gaps, and develop international standards for transparency and intellectual property to ensure fair and safe global dissemination of the technology.

• The rapid global adoption of generative AI (GAI) is creating a fragmented regulatory landscape as countries implement rules based on divergent national priorities, such as market-driven, state-driven, or rights-driven approaches. This divergence is likely to create cross-border trade frictions and 'uneven playing fields'.
• Existing international trade rules face significant gaps when applied to GAI. Specifically, the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) struggles with classifying GAI's 'mode' of supply and 'origin', while the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) lacks clarity on whether GAI-generated materials are copyrightable or how GAI can use copyrighted training data.
• GAI is expected to accelerate the creation of patentable ideas without direct human intervention, which challenges current patent laws that assume inventors must be human.
• The hardware essential for GAI, particularly semiconductors, is subject to increasing industrial policies and trade restrictions. For example, the US plans to raise tariffs on Chinese legacy semiconductors from 25% to 50% in 2025 and restrict the export of GAI-designed chips to China.
• GAI poses significant environmental and labor risks. Global electricity demand from AI, data centres, and crypto is projected to rise to 800 terawatt hours (TWh) by 2026, a 75% increase from 460 TWh in 2022. Additionally, estimates suggest GAI could affect between zero and 300 million jobs worldwide.
• There is an urgent need for transparency and verification standards to combat misinformation and 'model collapse' caused by GAI learning from synthetic data. The report suggests the WTO TBT committee could work with external bodies to create these global guidelines.

APA

World Economic Forum (2024). ChatWTO: An Analysis of Generative Artificial Intelligence and International Trade. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_An_Analysis_of_Generative_Artificial_Intelligence_and_International_Trade_2024.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. ChatWTO: An Analysis of Generative Artificial Intelligence and International Trade. 2024. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_An_Analysis_of_Generative_Artificial_Intelligence_and_International_Trade_2024.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=ChatWTO: An Analysis of Generative Artificial Intelligence and International Trade |date=September 2024 |url=https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_An_Analysis_of_Generative_Artificial_Intelligence_and_International_Trade_2024.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2024chatwto, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{ChatWTO: An Analysis of Generative Artificial Intelligence and International Trade}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2024}, month = sep, url = {https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_An_Analysis_of_Generative_Artificial_Intelligence_and_International_Trade_2024.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }