Guterres Urges Science-Led Global Cooperation, Calls for Facts Over Hype in AI Governance

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday called for harnessing Artificial Intelligence for global good while mitigating the challenges facing humanity, urging countries to prepare, protect, and invest in people amid strained trust and growing technological rivalry.

Speaking at the Global AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi on the role of science in international AI governance, Guterres warned that rapid innovation is outpacing global understanding of the technology and called for fact-based policymaking.

"We are barrelling into the unknown. AI innovation is moving at the speed of light, outpacing our collective ability to fully understand it. If we want AI to serve humanity, policy cannot be built on guesswork. It cannot be built on hype or disinformation. We need facts we can trust and share across countries and across sectors. Less noise, more knowledge", he said.

Guterres highlighted the steps taken by the United Nations around AI, noting the recently formed Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence, which he said would help close the AI knowledge gap and assess real impacts across economies and societies.

How will the UN’s independent AI panel shape global AI governance?

“It is fully independent, it is globally diverse, and it is multidisciplinary because AI touches every area of every society. And I'm delighted that the General Assembly of the United Nations confirmed the 40 experts I proposed to Member States,” he added.

“Now the real work begins on a fast track to deliver a first report ahead of the global dialogue on AI governance in July. The panel will provide a shared baseline of analysis, helping member states move from philosophical debates to technical coordination, and anchor choices in evidence," he said.

Calling science-led governance an accelerator for safer and fairer progress, he said a shared technical baseline would prevent fragmentation and incompatible standards.

"It helps us identify where AI can do the most good the fastest. And it helps us anticipate impacts early from risks for children to labour markets to manipulation at scale. So countries can prepare, protect, and invest in people,” he said.

“Today international cooperation is difficult. Trust is strained, and technological rivalry is growing. Without a common baseline, fragmentation wins, with different regions and different countries operating under incompatible policies and technical standards,” said Guterres.

How can global AI governance and technical baselines prevent a patchwork of AI rules?

“A patchwork of rules will raise costs, weaken safety, and widen divides. Science is a universal language. Guided by independent panel and the global dialogue on AI governance, we can align our technical baselines. When we agree on how to test systems and measure risk, we create interoperability", the UN Chief added.

"It requires clear accountability, so responsibility is never outsourced to an algorithm. People must understand how decisions are made, challenge them and get answers. The message is simple. Less hype, less fear, more facts and evidence. Guided by science, we can transform AI from a source of uncertainty into a reliable engine for the sustainable development goals,” he said.

“Let us build a future where policy is as smart as the technology it seeks to guide", Guterres said in his concluding remarks.

On the sidelines of the summit, Ilan Fluss, former Ambassador and Emerging and Disruptive Technologies Policy Coordinator at Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, described artificial intelligence as a transformative force comparable to historic global shifts and underscored Israel's commitment to innovation, responsible development, and expanded bilateral cooperation in emerging technologies.

"I think it creates so much interest because AI is really reshaping the world, reshaping the economy, reshaping society, and it touches countries, but it touches people,” he said.

“So it is critical to make sure that it's doing what it should do, and it really benefits the world at large, and of course each country by itself. And we came here in order to be exposed, and also to express and to show what Israel is doing vis-a-vis AI, and to share it with the world at large," he told ANI.

Fluss said the delegation’s visit to the Indian capital included participation in the summit and bilateral meetings with Indian government representatives to strengthen technological collaboration.

"AI is a revolution. You can compare it to the Industrial Revolution, and we need to make sure that we benefit from this revolution. We are only at the beginning," he said.

Emphasising that AI remains in its formative stage despite early visible impacts, he added, "We are starting to see, but there's still so much investment in so many directions. We have to make sure we're going in the right direction, and Israel has some approaches that we believe are very effective, and can be a very interesting model for many other countries and partners," he said.

How is Israel showcasing its AI innovation and collaboration in India?

He noted that the Israeli delegation included representatives from multiple ministries, reflecting AI’s cross-cutting influence across sectors such as agriculture, education, labour, health, and science.

"Well, we have a delegation here, which we have the head of the Israeli AI Directorate, which is more of an overall in charge of AI in the country, but of course we have a representative, he's an expert in agriculture. We have the Ministry of Education. We have the Ministry of Labor here regarding, you know, the working force and re-skilling and skilling. We have here the Ministry of Health, because of digital health. So it touches, we have the Ministry of Science, because science is also changing. So it touches every aspect," he said.

Highlighting precision agriculture as a key area of focus in the context of climate change and global food security, Fluss said, "So if we talk about, you know, precise agriculture, it is critical in days where, you know, climate is changing, and how do we make our agriculture more efficient, and how are we able to feed the people? So there are amazing solutions that come out, that can come from the AI," Ilan Fluss said.

Positioning Israel as a global innovation hub willing to share expertise while learning from partners, he said, "Israel is a leader in innovation, in research, for many reasons. The Israeli innovations can really benefit the world at large, and what we have done here, we are going to have another event later on today showing some of the practices of Israel. So from the very technical, I would say, to the more strategic approach to AI, all along this Israel has a lot to offer, and of course we're also listening and learning from others," he said.

Drawing attention to the complementary strengths of India and Israel, Fluss pointed to the contrast in scale between the two nations.

How can India-Israel AI cooperation scale innovation and solutions?

"If we talk about India, a country, such a big country, 1.4 billion people. Israel is a very small country, only 10 million. But, the solutions can be similar or can really converge into better solutions. Israel is in a way like a small hub, but we have to talk about scale. Israel is a small country, we don't have the scale. So working with India in bringing solutions to the scale is very important," Ilan Fluss said.

On regulation and ethics, he advocated a balanced approach that encourages innovation alongside safeguards.

"Finally, or not finally, but we're hearing a lot of messages about responsible AI, and what we're saying, yes, AI has to be responsible. But first of all, we also need to look always at the innovation in order to find the right solutions to use research and development, and to challenge, to identify the challenges that we are being challenged as a society, as a country, as people. Identify the challenge. Develop the new solution. This is what we're doing in Israel, identifying challenges, developing solutions. And as we develop, as we do tests and trial, from understanding the situation on the ground, then comes the regulation or the safety mechanisms in order to measure the challenges," Ilan Fluss said.

He added that the visit reinforced the broader strategic relationship between India and Israel, with AI expected to become a central pillar of future cooperation.

"And this is what we're doing in Israel. What we have done here in New Delhi is the conference, but also a lot of meetings with possible partners from the Indian government. Because if I move to the bilaterals, India and Israel are close allies. We see many things alike. We work together in many areas,” he said.

“Now, we want to create partnerships and collaborations either with the government and also with the private sector on AI. That's the, I would say, the future of the relations is going towards much more, towards technology. I think this is also the vision of Prime Minister Modi, and this is also the vision of Prime Minister Netanyahu," Ilan Fluss said.

The India AI Impact Summit 2026, the first global AI summit hosted in the Global South, has brought together policymakers, industry leaders, academics and civil society representatives to deliberate on responsible AI governance and inclusive technological advancement.

(With inputs from ANI)