The United Nations has warned that artificial intelligence (AI) could deepen global inequality if countries fail to establish common international rules to govern the rapidly evolving technology, cautioning that its benefits risk being concentrated in the hands of a few powerful nations.
The warning came as governments, technology companies, policymakers and leading AI experts convened in Geneva on Monday for the inaugural UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance, the organisation’s first dedicated platform for shaping international cooperation on artificial intelligence.
The two-day meeting is taking place amid growing concerns that AI development is advancing far more rapidly than governments’ ability to regulate it, raising fears that developing countries could be left behind while a handful of technologically advanced nations dominate the field.
In a statement published on its website on Sunday titled “Global push for AI governance amid warnings of ‘catastrophic harm’,” the UN stressed the urgent need for inclusive governance to ensure artificial intelligence serves humanity as a whole.
“The AI divide is real,” said Ambassador Egriselda López of El Salvador, who is co-chairing the Global Dialogue.
According to her, while some countries possess advanced digital infrastructure, world-class research institutions and highly skilled workforces, many developing nations are still grappling with inadequate internet connectivity and weak public infrastructure, limiting their ability to harness AI for economic and social development.
Her co-chair, Ambassador Rein Tammsaar of Estonia, described artificial intelligence as a potential “great equalizer” capable of transforming healthcare, boosting productivity, accelerating scientific discovery and driving economic growth.
However, he warned that without coordinated global governance, countries with limited access to AI technologies risk falling even further behind.
“The frontier developers are basically concentrated in two countries,” Tammsaar said, referring to the United States and China. “This leaves other countries with a lot of questions.”
He noted that many developing nations worry the pace of AI innovation is so rapid that they may never catch up if access to cutting-edge technology remains concentrated in a few economies.
Discussions at the Geneva meeting are being guided by the first report of the UN’s Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence, a 40-member body of experts established to provide impartial scientific advice on the opportunities and risks associated with AI.
The report acknowledges AI’s enormous potential to improve lives but warns that governments currently lack effective national and international governance mechanisms to manage the technology’s growing risks.
Yoshua Bengio, co-chair of the scientific panel, said artificial intelligence is already approaching—or in some areas surpassing—human capabilities while evolving faster than scientific understanding and existing regulatory frameworks.
“We don’t have the right national or even international governance tools, and we don’t have good ways to steer the benefits so that they are shared by everyone,” Bengio said.
The panel also warned that emerging evidence of deceptive behaviour by advanced AI systems means researchers cannot yet guarantee that increasingly powerful models will not cause catastrophic harm through misuse, unintended consequences or exploitation by malicious actors.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa, who also co-chairs the panel, said artificial intelligence has already accelerated the spread of misinformation and disinformation online, posing growing threats to democratic institutions, elections and public trust.
“The world cannot govern what it cannot understand,” Ressa said, urging governments to strengthen oversight before the consequences become more severe.
The Global Dialogue is expected to lay the foundation for future international cooperation on AI governance, including the development of global standards, oversight mechanisms and policies aimed at ensuring equitable access to one of the world’s fastest-growing and most transformative technologies.
