Leaders of the expanded BRICS bloc opened their 17th summit in Rio de Janeiro on 6-7 July, the first to gather the group’s 11 permanent members after its 2024 enlargement. Host President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva welcomed heads of state and senior officials for two days of discussions on global security, economic governance and technological regulation. A draft statement seen by Reuters, later incorporated into the summit’s 126-point Rio Declaration, calls for protections against the unauthorized use of artificial intelligence. The text urges limits on excessive data collection, mechanisms for fair compensation to right-holders and a UN-centred framework to ensure that AI benefits “all countries, including the Global South.” It also affirms each nation’s sovereignty to set its own rules while promoting interoperable standards. Chinese Premier Li Qiang told a plenary session that BRICS should be the “vanguard” of global governance reform and pledged a new China-BRICS research centre on productive forces. The declaration echoes his remarks, voicing support for multilateralism, condemning unilateral trade curbs and urging members to strengthen a rules-based trading system with the World Trade Organization at its core. The document addresses geopolitical flashpoints, reiterating national positions on the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and condemning recent attacks on civilian infrastructure in Russia and Iran. It welcomes Indonesia as a full member and names Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Nigeria, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Uganda and Uzbekistan as new partners, underscoring the bloc’s ambition to speak for nearly 40 % of global GDP and roughly half the world’s population. India will host the 18th summit in 2026.