With artificial intelligence (AI) innovation growing in speed and scale, the AI for Good Global Summit 2025 reinforced the global commitment to AI governance, skills, and standards.
Over 11,000 participants from 169 countries participated this week at the AI for Good Global Summit and World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)+20 High-Level Event at Geneva’s Palexpo convention centre, with many more taking part online.
“This year’s AI for Good Global Summit has shown that when people come together, dialogue can lead to inclusive cooperation, concrete action, and hope,” said ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin. “Let’s recommit to treating AI not as an end, but as a means to do good, for the benefit of all humanity, everywhere.”
Vision for AI governance and skills
Global dialogues on AI governance driven by AI for Good Global Summits ensure that developing countries are included in discussions that can shape the digital future.
At this year’s AI Governance Dialogue organized by ITU with another 53 UN partners, ministers and high-level government officials joined stakeholders from around the world to chart pathways for responsible and impactful AI.
The dialogue was co‑chaired by Majed Al Mesmar, Director-General of the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority of the United Arab Emirates, and Anne Bouverot, France’s Special Envoy for Artificial Intelligence.
The vision captured by the co-chairs’ summary report calls for AI that bridges innovation, inclusion, and sustainability.
The summit also highlighted the appointment of will.i.am, award-winning musician, tech entrepreneur, and advocate for equitable access to technology, as the Goodwill Ambassador for ITU’s AI Skills Coalition.
The Coalition supports capacity and skill development for policymakers, regulators, industry leaders, professionals across the workforce, as well as the next generation of tech innovators. The initiative aims to train 10,000 people from around the world on AI skills in 2025, with emphasis on developing countries.
Standards for global impact
The four-day event showcased progress on AI standards in areas from networking, multimedia, and energy efficiency to healthcare, food security, and road safety.
Key outcomes include:
- The new Global Initiative on AI for Food Systems led by ITU, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to use AI to boost productivity, efficiency, and global food security.
- Two landmark resources on standards and policy considerations for multimedia authenticity were released by the AI and Multimedia Authenticity Standardization Collaboration driven by ITU, International Organization for Standardization (ISO), International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and other key standards communities. The collaboration is advancing standards to detect deepfakes and verify multimedia authenticity and provenance.
- A new AI Standards Exchange Database to support cohesive standards development and application. The database currently includes standards from ITU, ISO, IEC, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), and welcomes contributions from all AI standards communities. The database will help standards developers to coordinate work and stakeholders to apply comprehensive standards suites.
ITU, ISO and IEC will bring together standards developers and stakeholders at the International AI Standards Summit from 2 to 3 December in the Republic of Korea.
The AI for Good Global Summit is organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the UN agency for digital technologies. It is supported by over 50 UN partners and co-convened with the federal government of Switzerland.
AI for Good Impact Africa, the next regional event organized by the AI for Good Impact Initiative, will take place in partnership with AI Expo Africa in Johannesburg, South Africa from 29 to 31 October.
