Governing Capitalist Democracies in the Age of AI — A Panel at the Reimagining Entrepreneurship Conference in Copenhagen

Panelists:

Nikolaj Munch Andersen, Chief AI Advisor, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Denmark

Yu-Che Chen, Director, School of Public Administration and Director of the Digital Governance and Analytics Lab, University of Nebraska Omaha

Mona Sloane, Assistant Professor, University of Virginia

Moderator: Siwei Huang, Director of Engagement, CAPRI

This panel addressed the profound implications of artificial intelligence (AI) for democratic governance and social equity in capitalist systems. AI is no longer a discrete tool but a deeply embedded infrastructure shaping everyday life, affecting healthcare delivery, education, financial systems, labor relations, and public administration. One central concern raised by the panelists was the widening asymmetry between powerful private tech firms and the state. With corporations holding greater access to data, computational resources, and technical expertise, democratic governments often struggle to keep pace in setting regulatory agendas or enforcing oversight. This imbalance, speakers warned, risks undermining public trust, institutional legitimacy, and the ability of states to protect citizens’ rights.

A key distinction was drawn between the governance of AI (i.e., regulation and oversight of private-sector development and deployment) and the use of AI in governance (i.e., public-sector applications, such as digital public services and policy modeling). The panelists emphasized that both layers require robust national frameworks that ensure transparency, accountability, and certification, alongside international cooperation to harmonize standards and promote interoperability across borders. While some regions, such as the EU, are moving forward with risk-based regulations such as the AI Act, others, including parts of Asia, remain in early stages of legislative development. The conversation also explored the geopolitical dimensions of AI governance, including how democratic states can balance competitiveness with accountability in a global race for technological leadership.

The speakers also questioned prevailing discourses around "trustworthy AI." Some of the speakers supported building public trust through transparency, certification schemes, and participatory governance. Others challenged the focus on “trust” as potentially distracting from more fundamental issues of structural inequality, concentrated power, and the actual functionality and impact of AI systems. In this view, the goal is not simply to make AI more acceptable, but to ensure it is accountable, reliable, and embedded in democratic values. Public investment in shared infrastructure, such as national computing capacity and open data resources, was cited as essential to prevent market dominance by a few firms and to enable participation by smaller actors and under-resourced sectors. The speakers concluded that effective AI governance must be grounded in not only technical design but also democratic legitimacy, with governments proactively asserting public values, coordinating global norms, and ensuring inclusive, socially beneficial outcomes.

Date: Thursday, July 24, 2025

Time: 08:30–10:00 a.m.

Location: The Carlsberg Akademi, Copenhagen