Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden Ebba-Elisabeth Busch attends a session at the AI Impact Summit 2026 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, India, 20 February 2026. India is hosting the summit from Feb 16 to 20 in New Delhi. EPA
NEW DELHI — A U.N. panel on artificial intelligence will work towards "science-led governance", the global body's chief said on Friday as leaders at a New Delhi summit weighed their message on the future of the booming technology.
However, the US delegation warned against centralised control of generative AI, highlighting the difficulties of reaching consensus over how it should be handled.
The flip side of the gold rush around AI is a host of issues from job disruption to misinformation, surveillance and the heavy electricity consumption of data centres.
"We are barrelling into the unknown," U.N. chief Antonio Guterres told the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi. "The message is simple: less hype, less fear. More facts and evidence."
To cap the five-day summit, dozens of world leaders and ministers are expected to deliver on Friday a shared view on the benefits of AI, such as instant translation and drug discovery, but also the risks.
It is the fourth annual global meeting focused on AI policy, with the next to take place in Geneva in the first half of 2027.
Tens of thousands of people from across the sector visited the vast summit and expo site, with some complaining of poor organisation including crowded and chaotic entry and exit points.
Police detained a group claiming to be members of the youth wing of the opposition Congress party who staged a shirtless protest at the venue against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday.
Guterres said the U.N. General Assembly had confirmed 40 members for a group called the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence.
Source: Korea Times News
