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The United Nations has set up a new Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence to produce regular assessments of AI’s impacts and risks.
The panel was created by a UN General Assembly resolution adopted in August 2025, and its 40 members were appointed in February 2026.
It held its first meeting on March 3, 2026, and elected Yoshua Bengio and Maria Ressa as its first co-chairs.
The mechanism is linked to a planned Global Dialogue on AI Governance, aimed at informing international discussions with scientific evidence.
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The United Nations has launched a new global scientific mechanism focused on artificial intelligence, creating a 40-member Independent International Scientific Panel on AI to provide evidence-based assessments for governments and the wider public.
The panel is designed to bring together technical, social, and policy expertise to review how AI is changing economies and societies, and to clarify areas of risk where countries are seeking shared understanding.
## How the panel was created
The UN General Assembly established the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence through Resolution A/RES/79/325, adopted on August 26, 2025. The resolution also set out a related process: a Global Dialogue on AI Governance.
The panel’s creation followed commitments in the Global Digital Compact, which was adopted at the 2024 Summit of the Future. That compact called for stronger international cooperation on the fast-moving digital landscape, including AI, and for better access to reliable evidence to support global debates.
Under the UN framework, the panel is intended to be a standing mechanism. Its role is to produce scientific assessments that can be presented to the multistakeholder Global Dialogue on AI Governance.
## Who is on the panel
The panel has 40 members drawn from all five UN regional groups. UN materials describe a mix of backgrounds, including academia, the private sector, civil society, government or international organizations, and the technical community.
The UN says the membership includes expertise in core technical AI, applied AI systems and infrastructure, AI safety, and the social and economic impacts of AI. The panel’s members serve in their personal capacity.
The UN says the General Assembly appointed the members in February 2026. The Secretary-General’s office said the candidate pool was large, and that the selection process included review steps involving multiple UN-linked bodies.
## First meeting and leadership
The panel held its inaugural meeting on March 3, 2026, at UN Headquarters in New York.
At that meeting, members elected two co-chairs to guide the panel’s initial phase: Yoshua Bengio, a Canadian computer scientist known for foundational work in modern machine learning, and Maria Ressa, a Filipino journalist and 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
In remarks at the meeting, the UN Secretary-General described the panel’s role as bringing independent, credible science into global discussions at a time of rapid AI development and heightened international tensions over technology.
## What the panel is expected to do next
The panel is mandated to produce regular scientific assessments. UN materials indicate it will set working methods, determine priorities, and form focused working groups as it begins its first cycle of work.
The intent is to help countries—especially those with less AI capacity—engage with AI issues on a more equal footing by relying on shared evidence. Governments have been seeking clearer answers on a wide range of questions, including how AI affects jobs and productivity, how generative systems can amplify misinformation, how AI may change public services, and what kinds of safeguards are feasible for higher-risk uses.
The panel’s work is also expected to connect with broader UN efforts around digital inclusion, including narrowing gaps in access to data, computing resources, and technical skills. Those divides shape who can build and benefit from AI, and who bears the costs when systems fail.
## Debate over scope and governance
The launch comes amid ongoing disagreement among member states about how far the UN should go in shaping AI-related international cooperation.
In February 2026, the General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to approve the 40-member panel, with the United States and Paraguay voting against and a small number of countries abstaining. US representatives argued that AI governance should not be dictated by the UN and raised concerns about process and the potential for political influence.
Supporters of the mechanism have said a standing scientific body can help separate evidence from politics, especially as AI systems are adopted in sensitive domains such as policing, border management, education, and health.
## Why it matters
AI has become a core technology across modern life. It is used in consumer products, business operations, scientific research, and national security.
At the same time, governments are struggling to keep up with rapid technical change and uneven access to expertise. The UN panel is being framed as a way to provide a common, scientifically grounded reference point for discussions that increasingly involve not only technology companies and a handful of major powers, but also small states and developing economies.
The next major test for the new mechanism will be whether it can deliver assessments that are both technically credible and broadly useful to policymakers, while maintaining independence and public trust.
AI Perspective
A global scientific panel can help turn AI debates into clearer questions that can be tested with evidence. Its value will depend on whether it stays transparent about uncertainty and avoids becoming a proxy for political fights. If it succeeds, it could make international AI discussions more practical for countries that do not have large technical institutions.
