On August 26, 2025, the UN General Assembly came together to establish two new mechanisms within the UN to strengthen international cooperation on artificial intelligence (AI) governance: the United Nations Independent International Scientific Panel on AI and the Global Dialogue on AI Governance.
The Scientific Panel will connect cutting-edge research on AI with policymaking, providing independent, evidence-based input to support Member States in making informed decisions on AI governance. Meanwhile, the Global Dialogue serves as an inclusive platform within the UN for States and stakeholders to discuss and collaborate on the challenges and solutions.
The announcement builds on the commitments made in the Global Digital Compact (GDC), adopted in September 2024, the first comprehensive global framework for digital cooperation and AI governance.
The Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data welcomes this milestone. It reflects the growing consensus on the need for inclusive and accountable data governance to make sure AI works for sustainable development. We’re hopeful that these new bodies will work alongside existing groups focused on data governance, such as the GDC-connected Working Group on Data Governance, with the understanding that data governance is the foundation of ethical, effective, and human-centered AI. As we continue working with our network to surface local innovation and remove barriers to responsible AI use in development, we are encouraged by the commitments of the international community to ensure AI systems—and the data on which they are built—are responsibly governed.
