UN General Assembly adopts first resolution on AI

The UN General Assembly adopted, without a vote, its first resolution devoted to artificial intelligence: “Seizing the opportunities of safe, secure and trustworthy artificial intelligence systems for sustainable development.” The United States led the drafting effort, and more than 120 member states co-sponsored the text, which passed by consensus — meaning no country objected — giving it the nominal backing of all 193 UN members.

The resolution called on states to develop and deploy AI systems that are “safe, secure and trustworthy,” and urged them to “refrain from or cease the use of artificial intelligence systems that are impossible to operate in compliance with international human rights law” or that otherwise threaten the enjoyment of human rights. It framed AI primarily through the lens of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, calling for international cooperation to close the digital divide and help developing countries access and adapt AI technology rather than be left behind by it, and it encouraged states to develop their own regulatory and governance approaches domestically.

Like all General Assembly resolutions, the text was non-binding: it created no enforcement mechanism, no reporting obligation and no penalty for states that ignored it. Its significance was rhetorical and diplomatic rather than legal — the first formal statement that the full UN membership, including China and Russia as co-sponsors alongside the US and its allies, could agree on shared language about AI risk and opportunity, at a moment when substantive AI governance was otherwise proceeding through disconnected national and regional processes.

The resolution set a baseline that subsequent UN initiatives built on, including a scientific panel on AI modelled loosely on the IPCC and a global dialogue mechanism established later in 2024, both aimed at giving the UN a more sustained role in AI governance beyond a single symbolic vote.