This article examines AI's challenges to privacy and data protection in Brazil, India, and Nigeria, analysing implications for AI governance in the Global South. Through comparative analysis of recent data protection legislation—Brazil's LGPD (2020), India's DPDPA (2023), and Nigeria's NDPA (2023)—the study investigates how these jurisdictions address AI-specific regulatory challenges. While all three nations have enacted comprehensive data protection frameworks, their approaches to AI governance diverge significantly. Brazil demonstrates proactive engagement through regulatory guidelines on AI and automated decision-making, whereas India and Nigeria's legislation lacks explicit AI provisions, though general data protection principles may apply to algorithmic systems. Drawing on Bennett and Raab's global privacy governance framework, the analysis examines legislative landscapes, institutional capacities, enforcement mechanisms, and socioeconomic factors, including digital literacy, cultural privacy attitudes, and economic priorities. The study identifies critical challenges: balancing innovation with protection, addressing digital divides, and developing regulatory capacity for complex AI systems. Despite common Global South development imperatives, each jurisdiction exhibits unique approaches shaped by local contexts. The article concludes that proliferating AI technologies necessitate evolved regulatory frameworks that uphold data protection principles while fostering innovation, emphasising international collaboration and contextual adaptation as essential for effective AI governance in the Global South.