New Policy Paper Calls On Governments To Prepare For Physical AI

A new policy paper by Ambassador Philip Thigo, Kenya’s Special Envoy on Technology, is urging governments and industry leaders to prepare for a major shift in artificial intelligence, as AI systems move beyond language models and digital applications into technologies that can sense, model, and act within the physical world.

The paper, From Language Intelligence to Physical AI: World Models, Spatial Intelligence, and the Next Frontier of Sovereign AI, argues that advances in robotics, spatial intelligence, and sensor-driven systems are enabling AI to operate directly within real-world environments. This marks a departure from earlier generations of AI that largely influenced decision-making in digital or informational spaces.

According to the paper, the rise of physical AI will have far-reaching implications for economic productivity, infrastructure resilience, public services, and national sovereignty. As AI systems become embedded in factories, transport networks, healthcare systems, agriculture, and cities, failures or misuse could carry immediate real-world consequences.

Thigo argues that sovereign AI must now be understood more broadly than ownership of data or large models. Instead, it increasingly depends on whether countries can build the institutional capacity to govern AI systems operating in physical environments, including regulation, standards, skills development, and cross-sector coordination.

The paper places particular emphasis on Africa and other emerging economies, noting that while global competition around physical AI is intensifying, many countries still have an opportunity to shape policy frameworks and investment strategies before technologies are widely deployed. Early action, it argues, could help align AI adoption with development priorities such as productivity, food security, energy efficiency, and urban resilience.

At the same time, the paper cautions against treating physical AI as a purely technical challenge. It calls for governance approaches that embed safety, accountability, and ethics by design, warning that fragmented or delayed regulation could deepen inequality or expose societies to new systemic risks.

By framing physical AI as a public policy issue rather than a niche technology trend, the paper seeks to inform decision-makers navigating the next phase of artificial intelligence adoption.

The full policy paper is available for download here.