Steering open-source AI to accelerate the sustainable development goals

Min Chen; Kai Wu; Prajal Pradhan; Cameron Allen; Stefano Nativi; Klaus Hubacek; Alexey Voinov; Felix Creutzig; Tatiana Filatova; Niklas Boers; Michael Meadows; Peilong Ma; Frank Biermann; Hans Joachim Schellnhuber; John Ludden; Maria Paradiso; Michael Batty; Huadong Guo; Min Cao; Peng Hou; Guonian Lü

doi:10.1038/s41467-026-73866-8

Steering open-source AI to accelerate the sustainable development goals

Min Chen^*
, Kai Wu
, Prajal Pradhan
, Cameron Allen
, Stefano Nativi
, Klaus Hubacek
, Alexey Voinov
, Felix Creutzig
, Tatiana Filatova
, Niklas Boers
, Michael Meadows
, Peilong Ma
, Frank Biermann
, Hans Joachim Schellnhuber
, John Ludden
, Maria Paradiso
, Michael Batty
, Huadong Guo
, Min Cao
, Peng Hou

Guonian Lü

^*Corresponding author for this work

Global Sustainability Governance

Nanjing Normal University
University of Groningen
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
University of New South Wales
Monash University
National Research Council of Italy
University of Twente
University of Sussex
Delft University of Technology
Technical University of Munich
University of Exeter
Nanjing University
University of Cape Town
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg
KMT GEORG.
University of Naples Federico II
University College London
Alan Turing Institute
International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals
Aerospace Information Research Institute
Satellite Environmental Application Center of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of PRC

Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/Letter to the editor › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

While the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution is advancing rapidly, the open-source paradigm offers key pathways and potential risks for accelerating progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals and beyond. This comment introduces four governance actions that consider how sustainability, evaluation, safety, and cooperation can be integrated into the transformation of open-source AI, thereby reducing uncertainties and challenges posed by open-source AI for sustainable global prosperity.

Original language	English
Article number	4959
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	17
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-73866-8
Publication status	Published - Dec 2026

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2026.

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s41467-026-73866-8Final published version, 633 KBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

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Chen, M., Wu, K., Pradhan, P., Allen, C., Nativi, S., Hubacek, K., Voinov, A., Creutzig, F., Filatova, T., Boers, N., Meadows, M., Ma, P., Biermann, F., Schellnhuber, H. J., Ludden, J., Paradiso, M., Batty, M., Guo, H., Cao, M., ... Lü, G. (2026). Steering open-source AI to accelerate the sustainable development goals. Nature Communications, 17(1), Article 4959. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-73866-8

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abstract = "While the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution is advancing rapidly, the open-source paradigm offers key pathways and potential risks for accelerating progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals and beyond. This comment introduces four governance actions that consider how sustainability, evaluation, safety, and cooperation can be integrated into the transformation of open-source AI, thereby reducing uncertainties and challenges posed by open-source AI for sustainable global prosperity.",

author = "Min Chen and Kai Wu and Prajal Pradhan and Cameron Allen and Stefano Nativi and Klaus Hubacek and Alexey Voinov and Felix Creutzig and Tatiana Filatova and Niklas Boers and Michael Meadows and Peilong Ma and Frank Biermann and Schellnhuber, \{Hans Joachim\} and John Ludden and Maria Paradiso and Michael Batty and Huadong Guo and Min Cao and Peng Hou and Guonian L{\"u}",

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doi = "10.1038/s41467-026-73866-8",

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Chen, M, Wu, K, Pradhan, P, Allen, C, Nativi, S, Hubacek, K, Voinov, A, Creutzig, F, Filatova, T, Boers, N, Meadows, M, Ma, P, Biermann, F, Schellnhuber, HJ, Ludden, J, Paradiso, M, Batty, M, Guo, H, Cao, M, Hou, P & Lü, G 2026, 'Steering open-source AI to accelerate the sustainable development goals', Nature Communications, vol. 17, no. 1, 4959. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-73866-8

TY - JOUR

T1 - Steering open-source AI to accelerate the sustainable development goals

AU - Chen, Min

AU - Wu, Kai

AU - Pradhan, Prajal

AU - Allen, Cameron

AU - Nativi, Stefano

AU - Hubacek, Klaus

AU - Voinov, Alexey

AU - Creutzig, Felix

AU - Filatova, Tatiana

AU - Boers, Niklas

AU - Meadows, Michael

AU - Ma, Peilong

AU - Biermann, Frank

AU - Schellnhuber, Hans Joachim

AU - Ludden, John

AU - Paradiso, Maria

AU - Batty, Michael

AU - Guo, Huadong

AU - Cao, Min

AU - Hou, Peng

AU - Lü, Guonian

PY - 2026/12

Y1 - 2026/12

N2 - While the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution is advancing rapidly, the open-source paradigm offers key pathways and potential risks for accelerating progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals and beyond. This comment introduces four governance actions that consider how sustainability, evaluation, safety, and cooperation can be integrated into the transformation of open-source AI, thereby reducing uncertainties and challenges posed by open-source AI for sustainable global prosperity.

AB - While the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution is advancing rapidly, the open-source paradigm offers key pathways and potential risks for accelerating progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals and beyond. This comment introduces four governance actions that consider how sustainability, evaluation, safety, and cooperation can be integrated into the transformation of open-source AI, thereby reducing uncertainties and challenges posed by open-source AI for sustainable global prosperity.

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DO - 10.1038/s41467-026-73866-8

M3 - Comment/Letter to the editor

AN - SCOPUS:105041513789

SN - 2041-1723

VL - 17

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

IS - 1

M1 - 4959

ER -

Steering open-source AI to accelerate the sustainable development goals

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