UN launches global scientific panel on AI
The United Nations has launched the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence. The panel is composed of global experts tasked with providing evidence-based guidance on AI development, governance, and societal impact. The move signals a coordinated international effort to establish standards and mitigate the risks of the technology.
This scientific panel is the outcome of a UN General Assembly resolution passed in August 2025, which highlighted concerns about the rapid development of AI and its potential threat to democracy and human rights. It is designed to function as the first global, independent scientific body to provide evidence-based assessments on the opportunities and risks of artificial intelligence. The 40 members of the panel were selected from a pool of over 2,600 applicants and will serve in their personal capacities, not as representatives of their governments or institutions. The group is geographically diverse, gender-balanced, and includes experts from academia, the private sector, and civil society with backgrounds in machine learning, cybersecurity, human rights, and other related fields. This new body is distinct from a previous 39-member "High-Level Advisory Body on AI" convened by the UN in October 2023, which included executives from companies like OpenAI and Microsoft and was tasked with providing preliminary recommendations. The new panel's mandate is to produce ongoing, authoritative annual reports to inform global policy discussions, similar to the role the IPCC plays for climate change. The panel's creation is a key component of the UN's broader Global Digital Compact, an initiative aimed at ensuring digital technologies are human-centered. Its scientific assessments will feed into a parallel initiative, the Global Dialogue on AI Governance, which is the political forum for member states. The establishment of the panel aims to address a significant gap in global AI governance, as 118 countries were previously excluded from major international AI initiatives. It is intended to create a shared, evidence-based understanding to help standardize global AI governance and ensure developing countries have a voice. The UN General Assembly approved the panel's formation with a vote of 117 in favor and two against. The United States and Paraguay voted against the measure, with a U.S. representative stating it was an "overreach of the U.N.'s mandate and competence." Ukraine and Tunisia abstained from the vote.
