AI resources update: 1. International AI Safety Report 2026 | 2. UN appoints Independent International Scientific Panel on AI

This article is part of an ongoing series looking at AI in KM, and KM in AI.

The new edition of a notable AI safety report, and the UN fulfills a key commitment from the Global Digital Compact:

1. International AI Safety Report 2026

The newly published second edition of the International AI Safety Report builds on the mandate by world leaders at the 2023 AI Safety Summit to produce an evidence base to inform critical decisions about general-purpose artificial intelligence (AI).

Notable developments since the publication of the first International AI Safety Report include:

• General-purpose AI capabilities have continued to improve, especially in mathematics, coding, and autonomous operation.
• Improvements in general-purpose AI capabilities increasingly come from techniques applied after a model’s initial training.
• AI adoption has been rapid, though highly uneven across regions.
• Advances in AI’s scientific capabilities have heightened concerns about misuse in biological weapons development.
• More evidence has emerged of AI systems being used in real-world cyberattacks.
• Reliable pre-deployment safety testing has become harder to conduct.
• Industry commitments to safety governance have expanded.

With thanks to Peter Slattery, PhD on LinkedIn.

2. UN General Assembly appoints Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence

At its 72nd Plenary meeting on 12 February 2026, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly appointed the 40 members of the new Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence.

In announcing the appointment, UN Secretary-General António Guterres states that:

We now have a multidisciplinary group of leading AI experts from across the globe, geographically diverse and gender-balanced, who will provide independent and impartial assessments of AI’s opportunities, risks and impacts – including to the new Global Dialogue on AI Governance.

In a world where AI is racing ahead, this Panel will provide what’s been missing – rigorous, independent scientific insight that enables all Member States, regardless of their technological capacity, to engage on an equal footing.

The creation of the Panel fulfills one of the commitments made in the Global Digital Compact, which was adopted at the 2024 Summit of the Future and is an annex to the Pact for the Future.

The 40 Panel members were selected from more than 2,600 candidates, after independent review by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the UN Office for Digital and Emerging Technologies, and UNESCO.

Header image source: Created by Bruce Boyes with Microsoft Designer Image Creator.