Newly Appointed Panel on Artificial Intelligence Will Provide Rigorous, Independent, Scientific Insight on AI’s Opportunities, Risks, Impacts : Secretary-General

UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ statement upon the appointment of the members of the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence (AI) by the General Assembly, 12 February 2026:

Today marks a foundational step towards global scientific understanding of AI.  The 40 members of the new Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence, established within the United Nations, have been appointed by the General Assembly of the United Nations for a three-year term. They will serve in their personal capacity.

The members were selected from more than 2,600 candidates, after independent review by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the UN Office for Digital and Emerging Technologies, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

We now have a multidisciplinary group of leading AI experts from across the globe, geographically diverse and gender-balanced, who will provide independent and impartial assessments of AI’s opportunities, risks and impacts — including to the new Global Dialogue on AI Governance.

In a world where AI is racing ahead, this Panel will provide what’s been missing — rigorous, independent scientific insight that enables all Member States, regardless of their technological capacity, to engage on an equal footing.

I am confident their work will inform collective dialogue on AI and support decisions based on evidence and solidarity.