The Global Dialogue on AI Governance is a United Nations intergovernmental forum on the governance of artificial intelligence, established by General Assembly resolution A/RES/79/325 under the Global Digital Compact. Its first session convenes in Geneva on July 6–7, 2026 (Source: un.org).
Structure and mandate
The Dialogue is co-chaired by Egriselda López of El Salvador and Rein Tammsaar of Estonia. The inaugural Geneva session's themes span capacity-building, open-source models, safety interoperability, and human rights (Source: un.org). A second session is scheduled for New York in May 2027 (Source: un.org).
Opening the first session on July 6, 2026, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that AI is developing faster than rules can keep up, saying "If AI is to be powerful, it must be governed" (Source: reuters.com).
Relation to the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI
Resolution A/RES/79/325 also established the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI, whose Preliminary Report on AI opportunities, risks and impacts, released July 1, 2026, was intended to provide a common scientific starting point for the Geneva session; the panel's next annual report is scheduled to inform the May 2027 session.