By Nqobile Dludla

JOHANNESBURG, April 10 (Reuters) – South Africa on Friday unveiled a draft national AI policy, seeking ‌public comment on sweeping proposals to regulate and ‌accelerate AI adoption.

The policy, published by the Department of Communications and Digital ​Technologies, aims to position South Africa as a continental leader in AI innovation while addressing ethical, social and economic challenges.

It also marks a significant step in South Africa’s digital transformation.

Public ‌comments on the ⁠draft policy are invited by June 10.

The draft outlines plans to establish new institutions, including ⁠a National AI Commission, an AI Ethics Board and an AI Regulatory Authority. The bodies would coordinate policy, enforce ethical ​standards, monitor ​compliance, and provide mechanisms for ​redress and compensation in ‌cases of AI-related harm.

The government also intends to create incentives such as tax breaks, grants, and subsidies to encourage private-sector collaboration, particularly for local startups and small businesses.

One of the key pillars of the policy is investment in strong ‌and cost-effective supercomputing infrastructure to ​support AI research and development. It ​also calls for strategic ​investments in digital infrastructure, including partnerships with ‌international cloud providers and regional ​supercomputing hubs.

However, it ​notes concerns that “reliance on foreign infrastructure could compromise the security of sensitive South African data.” It calls ​for plans to ‌reduce South Africa’s “current hardware dependence on the U.S. and ​China” amid their ongoing geopolitical rivalry.

(Reporting by Nqobile ​Dludla; Editing by David Holmes)