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Excellencies,
Dear colleagues,

Let me begin by warmly thanking our hosts and organizers: the Permanent Missions of El Salvador and Estonia, the Co-Chairs of the first Global Dialogue on AI Governance, and the United Nations Foundation.

I am grateful for their initiative in bringing together this cross-regional group of Permanent Representatives at such a timely moment.

This gathering comes at an important juncture: following the first Global Dialogue on AI Governance in Geneva in July, and as we begin preparations for the second Dialogue in New York next May and the high-level review of the Global Digital Compact in 2027.

It is precisely the moment to take stock, draw lessons and build the political understanding necessary for an ambitious, inclusive and effective path ahead.

Excellencies,

The reasons for this should be abundantly clear:

• More than a billion people already use conversational AI every week.
• One in four workers worldwide is now in an occupation with some degree of exposure to generative AI.
• And by 2030, electricity consumption from data centres is projected to more than double to around 950 terawatt-hours a year, slightly more than Japan consumes today.

Added to this are the widespread insecurities around this rapidly evolving technology.

Just yesterday, dozens of major media organizations sounded the alarm over the speed at which the technology is advancing, some going as far as to speak of “extinction”-level events.

Whether such fears prove founded or exaggerated, the resulting message is clear: we cannot sit on the sidelines; this technology is evolving too fast and its impacts are too profound for us to simply be bystanders. It is imperative that we engage meaningfully, responsibly and with urgency.

I say this knowing full well that, for all intents and purposes, AI is managed by a select few. The major technology firms developing the most advanced systems increasingly operate almost as quasi-sovereign entities. And they themselves are concentrated in only a handful of Member States.

The vast majority of us remain outside the rooms where many of the most consequential decisions are being made. According to Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵCTAD, 118 countries have yet to engage in major AI governance discussions. Fewer than one third of developing countries have a national AI strategy.

But that does not mean there is no role for the United Nations and its General Assembly to play.

Quite the opposite. Through resolution 79/325, the General Assembly has given us a very specific task: to agree on common understandings on priority areas for international AI governance, as an input to the high-level review of the Global Digital Compact and to further discussions.

Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ is the one forum in which every Member State has a seat, a voice and a stake in shaping this transformation. Our responsibility is to help ensure that artificial intelligence serves humanity, advancing human dignity, sustainable development, peace and shared prosperity, and never becomes a force that endangers human security or threatens humanity’s future.

This means we have to be smart in our engagement and work with the very people and institutions innovating and building these systems and using them. Any conversation we have around the governance of AI must include them.

And it means prioritizing our focus on some key issues: how do we ensure equitable access to its benefits and better access to tools and technologies? What kind of safeguards should we put in place so that those with the least say on these systems do not bear the greatest risk? What sort of interoperability should be there so that the world does not end up with fragmented systems of governance that widen divides, create loopholes or leave countries with fewer capabilities behind.

Excellencies,

Many of you have been pivotal to the General Assembly’s efforts on this file to date, whether in adopting the Pact for the Future, creating the Secretary-General’s Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence, or organizing the Global Dialogue held in Geneva this summer, and I commend you for these efforts.

I hope you will bring that same proactive approach to preparations for the second Global Dialogue on AI Governance, here in New York, in May.

Resolution 79/325 calls on us to hold intergovernmental consultations towards common understandings on the priority areas for international AI governance.

That means the work cannot begin in May. It must begin now.

We should seek common understandings that foster innovation with inclusion; advance access to AI capacity, infrastructure, data and skills; strengthen safety, accountability and human oversight; promote interoperability; and ensure that the benefits of AI are shared more equitably among and within countries.

And we need to do so with a realistic appreciation of our particular role in this rapidly evolving technology.

As President, I will appoint two co-facilitators for the Review of the Global Digital Compact, as well as two Co-facilitators for the New York Dialogue.

I will also work to strengthen regular communication and interaction among the Scientific Panel, the Co-Chairs of the Global Dialogue, the co-facilitators of the Global Digital Compact review, interested Member States and technology companies, so that our efforts remain aligned and move forward with a common purpose.

And I will endeavour to make the best use of the resources the United Nations already has in support of this important process, which are currently spread across multiple entities and offices.

Together, these efforts can put us on solid footing ahead of May and move us towards a shared vision of AI governance that is inclusive, practical and grounded in human dignity.

Excellencies,

As I have said, the question is not whether we will use these technologies, but whether we will govern them wisely and fairly. Our task is to ensure that innovation remains a tool for human progress, not a source of greater inequality, instability or harm.

Because ultimately, the question before us is not whether AI will transform our world.
It already is.

The question is whether all of us will have a voice in how that transformation unfolds.

Let us ensure that this transformation is guided by shared principles, effective guardrails and genuine international cooperation, and that it delivers for all humanity.