The United Nations opened its first-ever Global Dialogue on AI Governance on July 6, 2026, at the Palexpo convention centre in Geneva. The two-day summit, co-chaired by Ambassadors Egriselda López of El Salvador and Rein Tammsaar of Estonia, brings together all 193 UN member states alongside industry, civil society, and academia to discuss shared rules for artificial intelligence.
Established by UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/79/325 in August 2025, the Dialogue drew more than 1,500 written submissions organized around four themes: AI opportunities, bridging AI divides, safe and trustworthy AI, and human rights. The UN's Independent International Scientific Panel on AI — 40 experts co-chaired by Yoshua Bengio and Maria Ressa — warned that "governance systems were not designed for technology evolving this quickly."
Modeled on the Internet Governance Forum, the Dialogue produces only a co-chair summary rather than binding rules, but it marks the first time every UN member state has sat at the same table on AI policy. The next session is scheduled for May 2027 in New York.