The Panel, composed of independent scientists and experts from every region, outlines trends in AI and warns that current safeguards cannot keep pace with the growth of AI’s capabilities.
NEW YORK, 1 July 2026 - The UN Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence today officially released its Preliminary Report, delivering the first global, independent scientific assessment of AI opportunities, risks and impacts. This initial work from the Panel provides a foundational evidence base to inform global policy ahead of its first comprehensive report in 2027.
This collaborative effort to build a shared understanding of AI arrives at a critical inflection point. Governments are making consequential decisions about AI under great uncertainty with rapidly changing, often conflicting sources of evidence and perspectives that do not necessarily reflect local realities. As the capabilities of AI continue to grow, so do the stakes for the decisions being made around the world. This is the core challenge the Panel aims to address.
The Preliminary Report was produced by the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI, composed of 40 leading scientists and experts. Drawn from every region of the world, its members serve in their personal capacity, independent of any government, company or institution. The report's findings will be presented to governments at the inaugural UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance, convening in Geneva on 6 and 7 July.
In its Preliminary Report, the Panel outlines its findings across seven key domains:
- AI science, advances & trajectories
- Societal applications: science, health, education & agriculture
- Economic implications
- Security, systems & environmental implications
- Human rights, information & democracy
- Cultural & individual flourishing, autonomy and child safety
- Management, governance & reliability
The Panel identifies a crucial evidence challenge for decision-makers around the world: policymakers need scientific evidence to effectively govern AI, but by the time the evidence is clear, it may be too late to act on it. Whether AI’s promise is equitably realized will depend on the informed decisions nations make together and the shared scientific foundation that guides them — the very evidence base that the Panel's work is designed to offer.
“AI capabilities are outpacing both scientific understanding and governments’ ability to adapt. With growing evidence of deceptive AI behaviour, science currently cannot guarantee that as capabilities continue to increase, AI will not cause catastrophic harm, either on its own or due to malicious users. To act effectively, global policymakers must understand these systems. This Panel provides exactly that: a rigorous, shared scientific foundation to guide our collective way forward.” — Yoshua Bengio, Co-Chair, Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence
"The technology is transformative, but if the world keeps moving along this trajectory, humanity will fail to realize the gains it promises. The risks — to societies, to security, and to our species — are too high, and the forces driving AI forward are not the forces that will deliver its benefits." — Maria Ressa, Co-Chair, Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence
“The world cannot govern what it cannot understand. The Panel’s report provides independent science, drawn from every region, and available to every government. Its message is clear: the potential is great, but the risks are real, and the cost of waiting is rising. I urge all leaders to use this shared evidence to act together, and without delay. — 91茄子 Secretary-General António Guterres
“AI will not close divides by itself. The benefits land where institutions, skills and data already exist. Where they do not, the same technology can displace workers, widen inequality and leave communities dependent on systems built without them in mind. This report puts that into a shared scientific language for the first time. Those realities are now on the record, independently verified, and impossible to set aside.” — Amandeep Singh Gill, Under-Secretary-General and Special Envoy for Digital and Emerging Technologies
This report, titled Preliminary Report of the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI: Evidence-based assessment of opportunities, risks and impacts of AI, is the first output from a scientific body designed to move with the technology. The Panel will issue regular assessments and thematic briefs as AI evolves to provide policymakers and the public with up-to-date evaluations of the science.
Watch the report launch live at 11:00 a.m. ET ( 6:00p.m.- Nairobi Time) on
The full Preliminary Report, including an executive summary is available at /independent-international-scientific-panel-ai/en/preliminary-report.
A personal message from the Panel’s Co-Chairs is also available at /independent-international-scientific-panel-ai/en/preliminary-report
Panel members are available for interviews now. Over 30 members will also be present at the Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance in Geneva on 6–7 July and can be requested for interviews on site.
For more details about the Global Dialogue on AI Governance, please see the media advisory here.
