At India AI Impact Summit, UN chief says AI “must belong to everyone”

The United Nations Secretary-General on Thursday said the future of artificial intelligence “cannot be decided by a handful of countries – or left to the whims of a few billionaires,” calling for global cooperation through the United Nations.

Addressing the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi, he thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the invitation and congratulated India for its leadership in organizing the first AI Summit in the global South.

“Meeting in India has special meaning,” he said. “It brings this conversation closer to the realities shaping much of the world.”

General Assembly action

The Secretary-General recalled that last year the UN General Assembly took two decisive steps on artificial intelligence.

First, it created an Independent International Scientific Panel on AI. He announced that the Panel has now been appointed, bringing together 40 leading experts from across regions and disciplines.

“These 40 leading experts embody a clear message: AI must belong to everyone,” he said.

The aim, he added, is to replace hype and fear with shared evidence and to close knowledge gaps. He urged Member States, industry and civil society to contribute to the Panel’s work.

Second, the General Assembly launched a Global Dialogue on AI Governance within the United Nations, where all countries, together with the private sector, academia and civil society, can have a voice.

“We need guardrails that preserve human agency, human oversight – and human accountability,” he said.

The first session of the Dialogue will take place in Geneva in July. It will give every country and stakeholder a voice to align efforts, uphold human rights, prevent misuse, and advance common safety measures as the foundation for interoperability. Such measures, he said, build trust across borders for regulators and businesses and turn compatibility into opportunity.

He noted that discussions at the Summit would culminate in the Global Dialogue.

Investment in capacity

The Secretary-General warned that without investment many countries will be “logged out of the AI age.”

Encouraged by the General Assembly, he called for the establishment of a Global Fund on AI to build basic capacity in developing countries, including skills, data, affordable computing power and inclusive ecosystems.

“Our target is 3 billion US dollars,” he said. “That’s less than one per cent of the annual revenue of a single tech company. A small price for AI diffusion that benefits all – including the businesses building AI.”

He also said he was pleased that Member States had responded to his call to form a Global Network for Exchange and Cooperation on AI Capacity Building in the developing world.

Benefits and safeguards

The Secretary-General said that, done right, AI can advance the Sustainable Development Goals by accelerating breakthroughs in medicine, expanding learning opportunities, strengthening food security, bolstering climate action and disaster preparedness, and improving access to vital public services.

But it can also deepen inequality, amplify bias and fuel harm.

As AI’s energy and water demands rise, he stressed that data centres and supply chains must switch to clean power and must not shift costs to vulnerable communities.

He also called for investment in workers so that AI augments human potential rather than replaces it, and for safeguards to protect people from exploitation, manipulation and abuse.

“No child should be a test subject for unregulated AI,” he said.

Concluding, he said the message of the Summit is simple: real impact means technology that improves lives and protects the planet.

“So let’s build AI for everyone – with dignity as the default setting.”