Terms of Reference and Modalities for the Establishment and Functioning of the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence and the Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance

A/RES/79/325View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A document of the General Assembly, under agenda item 123a Strengthening of the United Nations System, published in 2025.

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

1 entity

Entity	(Sub-)Programme	Title	Total mandates cited	Expenditure
	Section 1	Overall policymaking, direction and coordination	15

Historical expenditure covers the complete programme or subprogramme, not this mandate. For an overview of all UN entities and programmes, see UN entities and programmes.

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

1 entity

Entity	(Sub-)Programme	Title	Total mandates cited	Expenditure
	Section 1	Overall policymaking, direction and coordination	15	—

Historical expenditure covers the complete programme or subprogramme, not this mandate. For an overview of all UN entities and programmes, see UN entities and programmes.

What subjects does this mandate have?

4 subjects

Artificial Intelligence Conferences Governance Scientists

What’s in this document?

24 operative paragraphs

Establishes, within the United Nations, the multidisciplinary Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence with balanced geographic representation to promote scientific understanding, comprising 40 members, serving in their personal capacity, selected for a term of three years:

To issue evidence-based scientific assessments synthesizing and analysing existing research related to the opportunities, risks and impacts of artificial intelligence, which amounts to one annual policy-relevant but non‑prescriptive summary report including thematic briefs as it deems necessary, guided by principles of independence, scientific credibility and rigour, multidisciplinarity and inclusive participation;

To elect two Co-Chairs from among its members, one from a developed country and one from a developing country, and up to three Vice-Chairs, taking into account geographical and gender balance;

To establish working groups as needed; the Panel may also consult informally with external experts;

To provide updates on its work up to twice a year to hear views through an interactive dialogue of the plenary of the General Assembly with the Co-Chairs of the Panel;

To present its annual report at the Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance;

Requires all candidates for nomination to the Panel to provide full disclosure of all conflicts of interest, which could include financial, professional and personal interests that may affect impartiality or independence, also requires such information to be included as part of the nomination and, if candidates are appointed, on an ongoing basis, and further requires candidates to commit to participate substantially while ensuring scientific independence and integrity, in Panel activities, including meeting, drafting and reviewing;

Requests the Secretary-General to launch a published criteria-based open call and to recommend a list of 40 members of the Panel to be appointed by the General Assembly in a time-bound manner, on the basis of their outstanding expertise in artificial intelligence and related fields, an interdisciplinary perspective, and geographical and gender balance, taking into account candidacies from a broad representation of varying levels of technological development, including from developing countries, with due consideration to nominations from Member States and with no more than two selected candidates of the same nationality or affiliation and no employees of the United Nations system;

Establishes, within the United Nations, the Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance, involving Governments and all relevant stakeholders, as a platform to discuss international cooperation, share best practices and lessons learned, and to facilitate open, transparent and inclusive discussions on artificial intelligence governance with a view to enabling artificial intelligence to contribute to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals² and to closing the digital divides between and within countries, including with regard to:

²See resolution 70/1.

The development of safe, secure and trustworthy artificial intelligence systems;

Capacity gaps, with a view to leveraging existing United Nations and multi-stakeholder mechanisms to support artificial intelligence capacity-building to bridge artificial intelligence divides, facilitate access to artificial intelligence applications and build capacity in high-performance computing and related skills in developing countries;

The social, economic, ethical, cultural, linguistic and technical implications of artificial intelligence;

The interoperability and compatibility of artificial intelligence governance approaches;

Respect for and protection and promotion of human rights in the field of artificial intelligence;

The transparency, accountability and robust human oversight of artificial intelligence systems in a manner that complies with international law;

The development of open-source software, open data and open artificial intelligence models;

Decides to convene the Dialogue annually for up to two days in the margins of existing relevant United Nations conferences and meetings, alternating between Geneva and New York, to be composed of a multi-stakeholder plenary meeting with a high-level governmental segment, a presentation of the annual report of the Panel, and thematic discussions;

Also decides to organize a high-level multi-stakeholder informal meeting to launch the Dialogue in the margins of the high-level week of the eightieth session of the General Assembly, in 2025, chaired by the President of the General Assembly, and further decides that the Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance will initially be held back-to-back in the margins of the International Telecommunication Union Artificial Intelligence for Good Global Summit in Geneva, in 2026, and of the multi-stakeholder forum on science, technology and innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals in New York, in 2027;

Invites the President of the General Assembly to appoint two Co-Chairs for each Dialogue, one from a developing country and one from a developed country, who will identify the main topics of the Dialogue and draft a Co-Chairs’ summary of each annual Dialogue;

Decides that the Co-Chairs of the second Dialogue will hold intergovernmental consultations to agree on common understandings on priority areas for international artificial intelligence governance, taking into account the summaries of the previous Dialogues and contributions from other stakeholders, as an input to the high-level review of the Global Digital Compact and to further discussions;

Stresses that the work of the Panel and the Dialogue will contribute to informing and improving capacity-building efforts on artificial intelligence, and encourages the specialized agencies, funds, programmes, other entities, bodies and offices, and related organizations of the United Nations system, within their respective mandates and resources, to take into consideration the contributions of the Panel and the Dialogue in leveraging the opportunities and addressing the challenges in enhancing international cooperation on artificial intelligence capacity-building, including through using appropriate inter-agency mechanisms, conducting research, mapping and analysis, reporting on progress and challenges in this field, and leveraging their resources and expertise to provide tailored assistance;

Requests the Secretary-General to facilitate, within existing resources and mandates, appropriate Secretariat support for the Panel and the Dialogue by leveraging United Nations system-wide capacities, including those of the Inter-Agency Working Group on Artificial Intelligence;

Encourages States, as well as the private sector, financial institutions, foundations and other donors in a position to do so, to support the effective functioning of the Panel and Dialogue, including by facilitating the participation of representatives and stakeholders of developing countries by offering travel support, through voluntary contributions that are made public in the interest of full transparency;

Decides that the continuation of the terms of reference of the Panel and the Dialogue may be considered and decided upon by the General Assembly during the high-level review of the Global Digital Compact at its eighty-second session.

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Who cites this mandate in the budget?