Terms of reference and modalities for the establishment and functioning of the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence and the Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance

Summary

Establishes within the UN the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence, 40 experts serving in their personal capacity who issue an annual evidence-based assessment of the opportunities, risks and impacts of AI and thematic briefs, and the Global Dialogue on AI Governance, a yearly meeting of governments and stakeholders that alternates between Geneva and New York. The Dialogue covers safe, secure and trustworthy AI, capacity gaps, interoperability of governance approaches, human rights, and transparency, accountability and human oversight of AI. Both are limited to the non-military domain.

Safety topics

Status notes

Adopted by consensus at the 89th plenary meeting on 26 August 2025, without reference to a Main Committee (draft A/79/L.118, negotiated in a process co-facilitated by Costa Rica and Spain); the document is dated 27 August 2025. It sets the terms of reference that the Global Digital Compact (UN-05) called for. The Dialogue was launched on 25 September 2025 during the high-level week of the General Assembly's 80th session. The General Assembly appointed the Panel's 40 members in February 2026, and the Panel held its inaugural meeting on 3 March 2026. The first Global Dialogue was held in Geneva on 6 and 7 July 2026 (its Co-Chairs' Summary is UN-13); a further session is planned for New York in 2027. Paragraph 12 lets the General Assembly decide on continuing the terms of reference at the high-level review of the Global Digital Compact at its 82nd session.

Sources

Open the official source https://www.un.org/pga/wp-content/uploads/sites/110/2025/12/A_RES_79_325-EN.pdf

Secondary source: https://www.un.org/global-digital-compact/en/ai

Local copy

Verification

History

1. 2026-10-18related: [{"slug": "global-digital-compact", "id": "UN-05"}, {"slug": "un-scientific-pane → [{"slug": "global-digital-compact", "id": "UN-05"}, {"slug": "un-scientific-pane — two-way link added: BRICS-01, G20-01, INT-01 link(s) to UN-072026-10-18-fix-related-links · Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5)
2. 2026-10-17notes: Adopted without a vote at the 89th plenary meeting on 26 Aug 2025 (draft A/79/L. → Adopted by consensus at the 89th plenary meeting on 26 August 2025, without refe — adoption by consensus and the 89th plenary meeting from the resolution and the Panel's FAQ; the Secretary-General's statement of 12 February 2026, which no stored file shows, removed; the co-chairs of the first Dialogue left to UN-13; the inaugural meeting on 3 March 2026 and paragraph 12 on the 2027 review added; 'next session on 3-4 May 2027' replaced by the FAQ's 'New York in 2027'2026-10-17-recheck-international-1 · Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5)
3. 2026-10-17safety_topics: ["international cooperation", "research priorities"] → ["international cooperation", "research priorities", "human oversight"] — 'human oversight' added: paragraph 4 (f) lists transparency, accountability and robust human oversight of AI systems among the Dialogue's topics2026-10-17-recheck-international-1 · Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5)
4. 2026-10-17summary: Establishes two UN mechanisms. The Independent International Scientific Panel on → Establishes within the UN the Independent International Scientific Panel on Arti — rewritten from the resolution's operative paragraphs 1, 4 and 5 and its first preambular paragraph: the Panel's composition and outputs, the Dialogue's frequency, venues and topics, and the non-military limit2026-10-17-recheck-international-1 · Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5)
5. 2026-10-17official_url: https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/4087699 → https://www.un.org/pga/wp-content/uploads/sites/110/2025/12/A_RES_79_325-EN.pdf — the resolution's own text (A/RES/79/325, English) on un.org, which the archiver can store; the UN Digital Library record returns a bot-check page2026-10-17-recheck-international-1 · Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5)
6. 2026-10-17date_last_updated: 2026-07-07 → – — the resolution has not been amended or reissued; 2026-07-07 was the last day of the first Global Dialogue session, an implementation event that belongs in the notes2026-10-17-recheck-international-1 · Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5)

Related records

Global Digital Compact United Nations · Published (non-binding, current)

UN AI Scientific Panel Preliminary Report United Nations · Published (non-binding, current)

UN AI Panel brief on AI agents & loss of control United Nations · Published (non-binding, current)

Governing AI for Humanity (UN HLAB) United Nations · Published (non-binding, current)

UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance 2026 Co-Chairs' Summary United Nations · Published (non-binding, current)

BRICS AI Governance Statement (Rio, 2025) BRICS · Published (non-binding, current)

G20 Johannesburg Leaders' Declaration 2025 (AI section) G20 · Published (non-binding, current)

Paris AI Action Summit Statement AI Action Summit (Paris, 2025) · Published (non-binding, current)

Citation

UN General Assembly. Terms of reference and modalities for the establishment and functioning of the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence and the Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance [A/RES/79/325]. 2025-08-26. https://www.un.org/pga/wp-content/uploads/sites/110/2025/12/A_RES_79_325-EN.pdf. Status: Published (non-binding, current); verified 2026-10-17 (level A). Local copy archive/UN-07/2026-10-17/official.pdf retrieved 2026-10-17 14:28:26 UTC, SHA-256 99f17e7202d3692d107a8c979660e8db2af7107937ca583199d84a8325c56e5c. Every AI Policy Ever, version 1.18 (snapshot 2026-10-18), record UN-07.

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