U.N. Names Independent Global AI Science Panel Amid Funding Strain
Forty proposed panel members submitted for approval would serve in their personal capacities for a three-year term.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres submitted a proposed 40-member Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence to the United Nations General Assembly, marking the formal launch of what he described as the first fully independent global scientific body dedicated to assessing AI’s real-world impacts.
The panel was created under a mandate from the Pact for the Future adopted by member nations last year and is intended to provide an authoritative, evidence-based reference point for governments grappling with the rapid spread of artificial intelligence across economies, societies and security domains.
Guterres said the 40 proposed panel members would each serve in their personal capacities for a three-year term, independent of governments, companies or institutions, in line with terms of reference approved by the 193-nation world body.
The proposed panel follows an open global call that drew more than 2,600 applications, according to the secretary-general. The final slate includes experts across disciplines ranging from machine learning and data governance to public health, cybersecurity, childhood development and human rights, including Nobel Peace Prize–winning journalist Maria Ressa.
The panel is expected to work on an accelerated timeline, with its first report due in time to inform a Global Dialogue on AI Governance scheduled for July.
The move builds on a broader U.N. push to establish global guardrails for artificial intelligence, amid warnings that uneven access to computing power, data and governance capacity could deepen divides between richer and poorer countries. Recent U.N. analyses have cautioned that without coordinated standards and investment in digital capacity, AI risks reinforcing economic and technological inequalities rather than narrowing them.
The announcement comes as the United Nations faces acute financial pressure. Asked how a new scientific body would be supported as the organization warns it could exhaust regular-budget cash by mid-year, Guterres said he was confident funding could be found, pointing to member nations’ legal obligations to pay assessed contributions.
“Obligations are obligations,” he told a press conference on Wednesday, when pressed specifically on whether the United States would settle its arrears.
Guterres acknowledged that AI governance efforts are unfolding amid deep geopolitical rivalry, arguing that no single country can fully assess the technology’s risks and benefits alone. He framed the panel as a neutral scientific reference designed to separate reliable evidence from misinformation at a moment of accelerating technological change.
Responding to questions about the use of AI in armed conflict, Guterres said one of the panel’s core purposes would be to clarify how AI technologies are being applied, including their weaponization, and to inform future discussions on minimizing associated risks.
Secretariat support for the panel will be coordinated by the secretary-general’s special envoy on digital and emerging technologies, Amandeep Gill, with operational backing from the International Telecommunication Union and UNESCO.
Guterres said the panel’s work would feed into broader U.N. efforts to establish common ground on AI governance at a time when technological competition is intensifying and multilateral institutions face growing political and financial strain.