The Peace Corps is recruiting volunteers to sell artificial intelligence to developing countries

For more than six decades, the Peace Corps has positioned itself as an agency focused on helping underserved communities around the world. But a new initiative called Tech Corps threatens to unravel the agency’s original mission by hiring actual Silicon Valley salespeople to promote the biggest names in artificial intelligence — many of whom have ties to President Donald Trump.

Established by President John Kennedy In 1961, the Peace Corps recruited skilled Americans interested in helping developing countries in industries such as education, health care and agriculture. like Brookings Institution notedThe agency was created to “win the hearts and minds” of countries that were not allied with the United States during the Cold War. Now, the version of diplomacy it will push is to see American-made AI tools in an effort to “promote opportunity and prosperity” in developing countries.

like Referenced on the Tech Corps websiteThe program will recruit volunteers “to support last-mile adoption of American AI.” Extensive qualifications. Tech Corps says volunteers must have an associate’s or bachelor’s degree in science, technology, engineering, mathematics or related work experience.

Volunteers will be recruited based on applications from countries in US Artificial Intelligence Export ProgramWhich is supposed to help foreign companies “partner with or purchase American AI.” One example of a Tech Corps mission describes volunteers helping to integrate an AI-powered healthcare system into a local hospital, train staff, and develop privacy protocols. Another describes volunteers working with a country’s Ministry of Education to “identify gaps in services for students, teachers, and parents where AI education tools could be most impactful.”

Kelsey Quinn, project leader and technology sovereignty and security analyst at the New Lines Institute, says: Edge Although “it is not entirely unusual for the Peace Corps to get involved in technology,” it is the Tech Corps’ “commercial structure” that is different. “This program deploys volunteers to support the adoption of US AI products purchased by countries, not just increase digital literacy as a skill overall,” Quinn says.

Some of the Peace Corps’ previous technology initiatives included teaching STEM skills to girls Zambia, Thailandand AlbaniaAnd also giving Communications technology training In Vanuatu. But the technology authority links its aid directly to US AI systems purchased by developing countries, with the program’s launch date contingent on the first sales made through the US AI export program, according to its website.

Just like the US AI export program, so it appears for the Tech Corps Another boon for the AI ​​industry. in Between dinners with technology CEOs And their donations to A The gilded hall of the White HouseTrump stopped Behind the plans of OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank To build several data centers across the United States. Trump also signed Executive order to discourage states From issuing laws to regulate artificial intelligence.

At the same time, Trump dramatically changed the US government’s system for providing aid abroad. Last year, the Government Efficiency Department Dismantling USAIDThis step has already led to the death of hundreds of thousands of people due to infectious diseases and malnutrition. According to Harvard T Chan School of Public Health. A Report from Atlantic reveals The Trump administration has plans to cut funding to seven African countries, while directing funding away from two others.

There are still questions about whether the technology team will achieve its goal. China has already laid the groundwork to boost the adoption of its AI systems Through the country’s Digital Silk Road initiativewhich brings Chinese technologies to developing countries, such as Egypt, Zambia, Pakistan, Serbia, Ecuador and many others. “These Tech Corps recruits will serve as on-the-ground promoters of American technology in these emerging markets where China has already maintained, if not expanded, its leadership in commercialization and promotion,” says Meisin Sun, an assistant professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and its MIT affiliate. Edge.

Chinese AI models also have an advantage when it comes to operating in regions that don’t have sprawling data centers and a power grid to support the most demanding systems. These models are “already gaining traction in developing economies simply because they are cheaper and can be run on local infrastructure,” Quinn says. As Microsoft researchers recently discovered The popularity of AI models made by DeepSeek — a Chinese company that develops powerful and efficient AI systems — has soared in Iran, Cuba and Belarus, as well as across Africa, with Microsoft noting that China-based Huawei has “actively promoted and deployed the platform.”

Failure is “quite possible” for the Technology Corps, as drastic cuts in aid and cuts to the Office of Cyberspace and Digital Policy put it on “weak institutional footing,” Quinn says. This, coupled with its ties to the US AI export program, may ultimately alienate countries. “This combination could make target countries suspicious of the Tech Corps and ironically encourage more hedging behavior by target countries, exactly the opposite of what the administration wants.” The primary goal of this department is very clear: make big technology partners happy.