CSIS: UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance

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Published by CSIS in October 2025, this policy analysis is relevant for understanding multilateral AI governance efforts and geopolitical competition over international AI norms, particularly around the UN's emerging role.

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Importance: 52/100organizational reportanalysis

Summary

CSIS analysts examine the UN's September 2025 launch of the Global Dialogue on AI Governance, which establishes an annual multilateral platform for discussing AI safety, developing-country capacity gaps, governance interoperability, and socioeconomic implications. The analysis situates this initiative within broader geopolitical shifts and competing visions for global AI governance.

Key Points

•The UN launched the Global Dialogue on AI Governance on September 25, 2025, with annual convenings starting at the 2026 AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva.
•The dialogue addresses AI safety, capacity gaps in developing countries, interoperability of national governance frameworks, and socioeconomic impacts.
•The initiative reflects shifting global power dynamics as multiple actors compete to shape international AI governance norms.
•The platform aims to include governments and other stakeholders in multilateral deliberations on safe AI development.
•CSIS frames this as a milestone in multilateral AI governance, with implications for US and Western influence over global AI standards.

Cited by 1 page

Page	Type	Quality
Failed and Stalled AI Proposals	Analysis	63.0

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What the UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance Reveals About Global Power Shifts 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
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 What the UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance Reveals About Global Power Shifts 

 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 

 
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 Critical Questions
 by 
 
 Laura Caroli 
 and 
 Matt Mande 
 
 
 

 Published October 7, 2025

 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 On September 25, the United Nations launched the Global Dialogue on AI Governance. The dialogue aims to provide a platform for future discussions of AI governance. Governments and other stakeholders will convene annually—starting at the 2026 AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva—to discuss the safe development of AI systems, AI capacity gaps in developing countries, interoperability of national AI governance efforts, and socioeconomic implications of AI technologies.

 The Global Dialogue on AI Governance is a milestone in the quest for multilateral AI governance, but not all countries are in support. At a UN Security Council debate the day before the launch, the United States came out in strong opposition to any and all multilateral AI governance initiatives, casting doubt on the future of the dialogue and on its meaningfulness.

 Q1: Where does the Global Dialogue on AI Governance stem from? 

 A1: This launch was a year in the making. In a report published in September 2024, the UN High-Level Advisory Body on AI recommended the creation of a scientific panel on AI, akin to existing initiatives to assess risks of climate change and atomic radiation. The report also proposed a recurring policy dialogue that would draw on the panel’s technical expertise and work towards a multilateral AI governance framework. At the Summit of the Future the same month, the United Nations committed to establishing the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI and the Global Dialogue on AI Governance in the Global Digital Compact . After many months of negotiations led by Spain and Costa Rica, the General Assembly finally approved the joint initiatives by consensus in an August resolution . In the words of Secretary General António Guterres,

 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 The goals of the Global Dialogue are clear: 

 

 To help build safe, secure and trustworthy AI systems—grounded in international law, human rights and effective oversight; To promote interoperability between governance regimes—aligning rules, reducing barriers and boosting economic cooperation; And to encourage open innovation—including open—source tools and shared resources—accessible to all.

 
 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 

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