Opening address of the co-chairs of the AI Governance Dialogue

Summary

The transcript captures the opening ceremony of the second annual AI Governance Dialogue, a platform designed to bring together diverse stakeholders from government, industry, civil society, and the UN system to develop inclusive and effective artificial intelligence governance frameworks. Tomas Lamanauskas, serving as the event host, welcomed participants and highlighted the significant growth in attendance from the previous year, with over 9,000 participants compared to 1,500 the year before. He emphasized that 76% of attendees came from developing countries, making this one of the most inclusive AI governance platforms globally. The dialogue builds upon themes identified from the previous year’s event, including the need for collaborative development of responsible AI frameworks, interoperability between technical platforms and regulatory approaches, international technical standards, and global solidarity in resource sharing.

The event features two distinguished co-chairs: His Excellency Majed Sultan Al Mesmar, Director General of the UAE’s Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulator Authority, and Madame Anne Bouverot, France’s Special Envoy for AI. Al Mesmar delivered opening remarks emphasizing the UAE’s commitment to multilateral cooperation and the importance of ensuring no country is left behind in AI development. He outlined the day’s agenda, which would cover topics ranging from frontier AI risks and safety to practical policy implementation strategies. The co-chairs committed to listening carefully to discussions and providing concrete recommendations to help shape the global AI governance agenda. This dialogue represents a crucial opportunity for international cooperation in addressing both the opportunities and challenges presented by artificial intelligence technologies.

Keypoints

**Major Discussion Points:**

– **Inclusive AI Governance Platform**: The dialogue serves as a comprehensive platform bringing together diverse stakeholders (government, industry, civil society, UN system) to develop pathways for transparent and effective AI governance, with particular emphasis on including developing countries (76% of participants)

– **Key Governance Themes from Previous Year**: Four critical areas emerged from last year’s dialogue – developing responsible frameworks collaboratively, ensuring interoperability between technical platforms and regulatory approaches, establishing international technical standards, and promoting global solidarity and resource sharing

– **Massive Scale and Diversity**: The event has grown exponentially from 1,500 participants last year to over 9,000 this year, including 2,300+ from industry/academia, 40+ UN delegations, and 100+ ministers and regulators, demonstrating unprecedented global engagement

– **Structured Leadership and Action-Oriented Approach**: The dialogue features co-chairs from UAE and France to ensure balanced facilitation and shared leadership, with 220 experts convening separately to tackle major questions and provide concrete recommendations

– **Comprehensive AI Policy Coverage**: The day’s agenda spans technical policy, skills development, infrastructure, frontier risks, safety measures, and practical implementation strategies to ensure AI benefits all humanity

**Overall Purpose:**

The discussion aims to establish the second annual AI Governance Dialogue as the world’s most inclusive platform for developing collaborative, international approaches to AI governance that ensure no country or community is left behind in the AI revolution.

**Overall Tone:**

The tone is consistently formal, diplomatic, and optimistic throughout. It maintains a ceremonial quality appropriate for a high-level international gathering, with speakers expressing honor, gratitude, and commitment to multilateral cooperation. The tone emphasizes urgency balanced with opportunity, and remains collaborative and forward-looking without any notable shifts during the opening remarks.

Speakers

– **Tomas Lamanauskas**: Role/Title not specified, appears to be hosting/facilitating the AI Governance Dialogue event

– **Majed Sultan Al Mesmar**: His Excellency, Engineer, Director General of the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulator Authority (TDRA) of the United Arab Emirates, Co-chair of the AI Governance Dialogue

– **Moderator**: Role/Title not specified beyond being a moderator for the event

Additional speakers:

– **Anne Bouverot**: France’s Special Envoy for AI, Co-chair of the AI Governance Dialogue (mentioned but did not speak in this transcript – was not present in person but scheduled to participate later)

# Report: Second Annual AI Governance Dialogue Opening Remarks

## Executive Summary

The second annual AI Governance Dialogue opened with remarks from facilitator Tomas Lamanauskas and keynote speaker His Excellency Majed Sultan Al Mesmar, Director General of the UAE’s Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulator Authority. The event has grown significantly from its inaugural year, with over 9,000 participants representing diverse stakeholder groups, with 76% from developing countries. Co-chair Madame Anne Bouverot was unable to attend the opening session in person but was scheduled to participate later in the day.

## Event Scale and Participation

The dialogue has experienced substantial growth, expanding from more than 1,500 participants in its first year to over 9,000 participants in the current edition. The participant composition includes more than 2,300 participants from industry and academia, over 40 UN delegations, and over 100 ministers and regulators. Notably, 76% of participants represent developing countries.

This compares to the previous year’s attendance of over 70 ministers and regulators, over 25 UN representatives, and over 100 industry and academia representatives, demonstrating significant expansion across all stakeholder categories.

## Leadership and Structure

The dialogue features co-chairs from the United Arab Emirates and France. His Excellency Al Mesmar participated in the opening session, while Madame Anne Bouverot was scheduled to join later in the day. Al Mesmar opened his remarks with greetings in Arabic before proceeding in English, emphasizing the UAE’s commitment to multilateral dialogue and international cooperation.

The UAE’s involvement reflects its longstanding engagement with ITU processes and its role as a champion of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) process for over two decades. Al Mesmar highlighted the UAE’s belief in multistakeholder processes for addressing opportunities and challenges presented by emerging technologies like artificial intelligence.

## Planned Activities and Expert Engagement

The opening remarks outlined planned activities for the day, including expert sessions where 220 experts and policymakers were scheduled to convene over lunch. These sessions, to be chaired by the co-chairs, were designed to tackle key questions and develop pathways forward, with results to be presented at the end of the day.

The agenda was described as covering a broad spectrum of AI governance issues, from frontier risks and safety measures to practical policy implementation strategies, technical policy considerations, skills development, infrastructure needs, and safety measures.

## Themes from Previous Year

Lamanauskas referenced four themes that emerged from the previous year’s dialogue as areas requiring collective action in AI governance:

1. Developing responsible AI frameworks through collaborative approaches engaging multiple stakeholders across sectors and regions

2. Ensuring interoperability among technical platforms and regulatory approaches

3. Establishing international technical standards that allow policy and regulation to remain flexible and agile

4. Promoting global solidarity and resource sharing as essential components of effective AI governance

## Key Messages

Both speakers emphasized the importance of inclusive, multistakeholder approaches in AI governance. Al Mesmar stressed the UAE’s commitment to multilateral processes and international cooperation, citing the country’s active participation in ITU and WSIS frameworks as evidence of sustained engagement with global digital governance initiatives.

The speakers highlighted the goal of ensuring that no country or community is excluded from the benefits of AI development, with particular attention to including developing countries in governance discussions.

## Commitment to Actionable Outcomes

The co-chairs expressed their commitment to listening carefully to discussions throughout the day and providing concrete recommendations to help shape the global AI agenda. This focus on producing practical recommendations was emphasized as a key objective of the dialogue process.

## Conclusion

The opening remarks established the second annual AI Governance Dialogue as a significantly expanded platform for international AI governance discussions, with unprecedented participation from developing countries and comprehensive stakeholder representation. The structured approach, combining opening presentations with planned expert workshops, was designed to move beyond general principles toward concrete recommendations for AI governance implementation.

Tomas Lamanauskas: Thank you, thank you very much Charlotte indeed, and thank you everyone coming here this morning to join us in this venue today. And indeed it’s a pleasure to welcome you to the second AI Governance Day, to AI Governance Dialogue this year. It is a platform designed to bring together leading voices from government, industry and civil society, as well as the UN system to chart pathways for inclusive, transparent and effective governance of artificial intelligence. Since its launch last year, this annual dialogue aims to build on and complement ongoing work and global processes on AI governance. By hearing from more than 1,500 of you on this day last year, over 70 ministers and regulators, over 25 UN representatives and over 100 industry and academia representatives, some clear themes emerged for our collective action. First of all, responsible frameworks, they really need to have them developed together. Interoperability among both technical platforms, but also regulatory approaches. International technical standards and their role to make sure that policy and regulation is flexible and agile. And then importantly, the need for global solidarity and resource sharing. This year, I’m very pleased to report that the voices in the room are exponentially more numerous and diverse. Actually, this year, we’re welcoming over 9,000 of you in Pellexpo today, more than 2,300 from industry and academia, over 40 UN system delegations and over 100 ministers and regulators. Importantly, and I think this is super unique for this platform, 76% from developing countries here. So this really, truly lives up to the spirit of being the most inclusive platform for AI governance. Through the course of today, we hope all of you will engage and actively contribute to the workshops and discussions planned that will reflect on everything from technical policy to skills to infrastructure aspects that must be addressed to ensure that AI works for all humanity. As we had done last time, 220 experts and policymakers will also convene over lunch, chaired by our co-chairs today, and I’ll introduce the co-chairs in a minute, to tackle some of the biggest questions of the day and chart a path forward that we’ll present to you at the end of today. In order to ensure that this day reflects a diversity of perspectives and delivers tangible outcomes, two of the global leading voices on AI have agreed to act as co-chairs for the day, and it will be the structure that allows for shared leadership and balanced facilitation and making sure that all your voices are heard. They will help draw out key insights and build conversions around common principles and actions. This year, we have the honor to have two global thought leaders to steer the programs and discussion. It is my privilege to present to you the co-chairs of the dialogue, and I’ll have one of the co-chairs in a minute with me on the stage, and I’ll invite him at that point. So first of all is His Excellency, EngineerMajed Sultan Al Mesmar Director General of the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulator Authority, or TDRA for short, of the United Arab Emirates, and Madame Anne Bouverot, France’s Special Envoy for AI. Under Madame Bouverot’s leadership, France convened the AI Action Summit in February this year, which marked a key milestone in the global conversation on artificial intelligence. The IE, meanwhile, has been a steadfast champion of WSIS process that, of course, happens also in the halls that’s next to this this year, and the process which is stemming from World Summit on Information Society that has guided our digital cooperation for over two decades now, and the 20 years of which we’re celebrating in these nearby halls this week as well. From the annual WSIS Forum to active engagement in all key IT processes, and I think UAE holds the unrivaled honor to be a host of all ITU statutory conferences, so UAE demonstrates a clear commitment and leadership to multilateral dialogue and inclusive digital development. Also, Madame Bouverot could not join us in person this morning. She has a vital role in shaping this dialogue and will be here today to share her insights later, and I’m sure that her staff is here also taking copious notes to make sure that her report is also as extensive. Together, we look forward to facilitated and dynamic and action-oriented exchange throughout this day, one that reflects the urgency and opportunity of this moment. With that, it is my pleasure to invite and hand the floor to His Excellency Majed Sultan Al Mesmar to the floor. Please, Your Excellency, we’ll invite you to start the co-chairing. Thank you.

Majed Sultan Al Mesmar: Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim. Excellencies, distinguished guests, colleagues, friends, As-salamu alaykum wa-rahmatullahi wa-barakatuh. Very good morning to all of you. It is a great honor to co-chair today’s AI Governance Dialogue alongside Madame Anne Bouverot. The United Arab Emirates has always been a committed partner to the ITU and multilateral and multistakeholder process like WSIS, particularly in addressing the opportunities and challenges posed by emerging technologies such as AI. We believe that inclusive international cooperation is a key to ensuring that no country or community is left behind. Today’s dialogue is a unique opportunity. It brings together a diverse set of voices from across the world, developing and developed countries, policymakers, technologists, academics, and civil society, to shape a shared understanding of how we can build safe, trustworthy, and inclusive AI systems. Throughout the day, we will explore a broad range of issues, from deep dives into frontier risks and safety to practical policy levers for implementation. We will hear from those leading key global processes and reflect together on how we can make international efforts more agile, inclusive, and future-ready. As co-chairs Madame Bouverot and I are here to listen, we will carefully consider the insights that emerge from your conversation and will report back with a summary of concrete recommendations that we hope can help shape the global agenda going forward. I look forward to a rich, constructive discussion. Thank you very much.

Moderator: Your Excellency and Deputy Secretary General. And this opening speech session concludes the opening of the AI Governance Dialogue. We invite you to stay engaged throughout the day as the dialogue unfolds across several focused discussions.

Agreement points

Inclusive international cooperation and multi-stakeholder approach

Speakers

– Tomas Lamanauskas
– Majed Sultan Al Mesmar

Arguments

The AI Governance Dialogue serves as a platform to bring together diverse voices from government, industry, civil society, and UN system for inclusive AI governance

Inclusive international cooperation is key to ensuring no country or community is left behind in AI development

Building safe, trustworthy, and inclusive AI systems requires diverse perspectives from policymakers, technologists, academics, and civil society

Summary

Both speakers emphasize the critical importance of inclusive, multi-stakeholder approaches to AI governance that bring together diverse voices from government, industry, civil society, and international organizations to ensure no country or community is excluded from AI development benefits.

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Development

Commitment to multilateral processes and international cooperation

Speakers

– Tomas Lamanauskas
– Majed Sultan Al Mesmar

Arguments

UAE demonstrates commitment to multilateral dialogue through active engagement in ITU processes and hosting statutory conferences

UAE has been a steadfast champion of the WSIS process, contributing to digital cooperation for over two decades

UAE believes in multilateral and multistakeholder processes to address opportunities and challenges of emerging technologies like AI

Summary

Both speakers highlight UAE’s long-standing commitment to multilateral dialogue and international cooperation through active participation in ITU and WSIS processes, demonstrating leadership in addressing emerging technology challenges through collaborative approaches.

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Infrastructure

Structured expert engagement for concrete outcomes

Speakers

– Tomas Lamanauskas
– Majed Sultan Al Mesmar

Arguments

Expert discussions will tackle key questions and chart pathways forward through structured workshops and facilitated sessions

Co-chairs will listen to insights and provide concrete recommendations to help shape the global AI agenda

Summary

Both speakers agree on the importance of structured expert engagement through workshops and facilitated sessions, with leadership committed to synthesizing insights into concrete recommendations that can influence global AI governance.

Topics

Legal and regulatory

Similar viewpoints

Both speakers emphasize the critical importance of inclusivity in AI governance, particularly ensuring strong representation from developing countries and preventing any community from being excluded from AI development opportunities.

Speakers

– Tomas Lamanauskas
– Majed Sultan Al Mesmar

Arguments

This year’s dialogue achieved unprecedented inclusivity with over 9,000 participants, 76% from developing countries, making it the most inclusive platform for AI governance

Inclusive international cooperation is key to ensuring no country or community is left behind in AI development

Topics

Development | Legal and regulatory

Both speakers recognize the need for comprehensive approaches to AI governance that address both technical and policy aspects, emphasizing collaborative development of frameworks and exploration of diverse implementation strategies.

Speakers

– Tomas Lamanauskas
– Majed Sultan Al Mesmar

Arguments

Responsible AI frameworks need to be developed collaboratively with focus on interoperability among technical platforms and regulatory approaches

The dialogue will explore broad issues from frontier risks and safety to practical policy implementation levers

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Infrastructure

Unexpected consensus

Developing country representation as majority stakeholder

Speakers

– Tomas Lamanauskas
– Majed Sultan Al Mesmar

Arguments

This year’s dialogue achieved unprecedented inclusivity with over 9,000 participants, 76% from developing countries, making it the most inclusive platform for AI governance

Inclusive international cooperation is key to ensuring no country or community is left behind in AI development

Explanation

The emphasis on developing countries comprising 76% of participants represents an unexpected shift in AI governance discussions, which are often dominated by developed nations. This consensus on prioritizing developing country voices suggests a significant reorientation toward global equity in AI governance.

Topics

Development | Legal and regulatory

Overall assessment

Summary

The speakers demonstrate strong consensus on the fundamental principles of AI governance, including the need for inclusive multi-stakeholder approaches, international cooperation, structured expert engagement, and particular emphasis on developing country participation. There is clear agreement on the importance of collaborative framework development and the role of multilateral processes.

Consensus level

High level of consensus with significant implications for establishing AI governance as a truly global, inclusive endeavor that prioritizes equity and comprehensive stakeholder engagement. This consensus suggests potential for effective international coordination on AI governance initiatives.

Different viewpoints

Unexpected differences

Overall assessment

Summary

No disagreements identified among speakers in this opening session

Disagreement level

Zero disagreement level – This transcript represents an opening ceremony where all speakers are aligned on the importance of inclusive AI governance, multilateral cooperation, and the value of the dialogue platform. All speakers reinforce each other’s points about the need for international cooperation, inclusive participation, and collaborative approaches to AI governance. The absence of disagreement is expected given the ceremonial nature of the session, but it may indicate that substantive policy debates and differing viewpoints will emerge in the focused discussion sessions that follow.

Partial agreements

Similar viewpoints

Both speakers emphasize the critical importance of inclusivity in AI governance, particularly ensuring strong representation from developing countries and preventing any community from being excluded from AI development opportunities.

Speakers

– Tomas Lamanauskas
– Majed Sultan Al Mesmar

Arguments

This year’s dialogue achieved unprecedented inclusivity with over 9,000 participants, 76% from developing countries, making it the most inclusive platform for AI governance

Inclusive international cooperation is key to ensuring no country or community is left behind in AI development

Topics

Development | Legal and regulatory

Both speakers recognize the need for comprehensive approaches to AI governance that address both technical and policy aspects, emphasizing collaborative development of frameworks and exploration of diverse implementation strategies.

Speakers

– Tomas Lamanauskas
– Majed Sultan Al Mesmar

Arguments

Responsible AI frameworks need to be developed collaboratively with focus on interoperability among technical platforms and regulatory approaches

The dialogue will explore broad issues from frontier risks and safety to practical policy implementation levers

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Infrastructure

Key takeaways

The AI Governance Dialogue has achieved unprecedented global inclusivity with over 9,000 participants, 76% from developing countries, making it the most inclusive platform for AI governance

Four critical themes emerged for collective AI governance action: collaborative development of responsible frameworks, interoperability among technical platforms and regulatory approaches, international technical standards for flexible policy, and global solidarity with resource sharing

Inclusive international cooperation is essential to ensure no country or community is left behind in AI development and governance

Safe, trustworthy, and inclusive AI systems require diverse perspectives from government, industry, civil society, academia, and the UN system working together

The UAE demonstrates strong commitment to multilateral AI governance through its leadership in ITU processes and the WSIS framework spanning over two decades

Resolutions and action items

220 experts and policymakers will convene during lunch sessions to tackle key questions and chart pathways forward

Co-chairs will listen to insights throughout the day and provide concrete recommendations to help shape the global AI agenda

Participants are expected to actively engage in workshops and discussions covering technical policy, skills, and infrastructure aspects

The dialogue will explore issues ranging from frontier risks and safety to practical policy implementation levers

Unresolved issues

Specific technical standards and regulatory approaches for AI interoperability remain to be defined through the day’s discussions

Concrete mechanisms for global solidarity and resource sharing in AI governance need to be established

Practical policy levers for AI implementation require further exploration and definition

How to make international AI governance efforts more agile, inclusive, and future-ready needs detailed discussion

Suggested compromises

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This year, I’m very pleased to report that the voices in the room are exponentially more numerous and diverse… Importantly, and I think this is super unique for this platform, 76% from developing countries here. So this really, truly lives up to the spirit of being the most inclusive platform for AI governance.

Speaker

Tomas Lamanauskas

Reason

This comment is particularly insightful because it highlights a critical shift in AI governance discussions – moving from predominantly developed-country perspectives to truly global representation. The emphasis on 76% participation from developing countries challenges the traditional power dynamics in technology governance and suggests that AI governance solutions must account for diverse economic, social, and technological contexts rather than being designed primarily by and for developed nations.

Impact

This comment sets the foundational tone for the entire dialogue by establishing legitimacy and credibility through inclusivity. It frames all subsequent discussions within the context of global representation, implying that any recommendations or frameworks developed would carry more weight due to this diverse participation. It also creates an expectation that the dialogue will address challenges and opportunities relevant to developing countries, not just advanced economies.

We believe that inclusive international cooperation is a key to ensuring that no country or community is left behind… Today’s dialogue is a unique opportunity. It brings together a diverse set of voices from across the world, developing and developed countries, policymakers, technologists, academics, and civil society, to shape a shared understanding of how we can build safe, trustworthy, and inclusive AI systems.

Speaker

Majed Sultan Al Mesmar

Reason

This comment is thought-provoking because it explicitly connects AI governance to broader development and equity concerns. By framing AI governance through the lens of ensuring ‘no country or community is left behind,’ it elevates the discussion beyond technical standards to fundamental questions of global justice and digital divide. The emphasis on ‘shared understanding’ suggests that AI governance isn’t just about creating rules, but about building consensus across vastly different contexts and capabilities.

Impact

This comment reinforces and builds upon the inclusivity theme while introducing a moral imperative to the technical discussion. It shifts the conversation from ‘how do we govern AI’ to ‘how do we govern AI equitably,’ which likely influences all subsequent technical and policy discussions to consider equity implications. It also establishes the UAE’s position as a bridge between developed and developing world perspectives.

From deep dives into frontier risks and safety to practical policy levers for implementation. We will hear from those leading key global processes and reflect together on how we can make international efforts more agile, inclusive, and future-ready.

Speaker

Majed Sultan Al Mesmar

Reason

This comment is insightful because it acknowledges the tension between addressing cutting-edge AI risks (frontier risks) and the practical realities of implementation across diverse global contexts. The call for making international efforts ‘more agile, inclusive, and future-ready’ recognizes that current governance approaches may be too slow, exclusive, or backward-looking for the pace of AI development.

Impact

This comment broadens the scope of the dialogue to encompass both theoretical/future concerns and immediate practical challenges. It suggests that the discussion will need to balance sophisticated technical considerations with implementable solutions, potentially leading to more nuanced and pragmatic recommendations that can work across different levels of technological development and regulatory capacity.

Overall assessment

While this transcript captures only the opening remarks of the AI Governance Dialogue, the key comments identified establish a foundational framework that likely shaped the entire day’s discussions. The emphasis on unprecedented inclusivity (76% developing country participation) and the explicit focus on ensuring ‘no country or community is left behind’ represents a significant departure from traditional technology governance discussions that have historically been dominated by developed nations. These opening statements create an expectation that AI governance solutions must be globally applicable and equitable, not just technically sound. The combination of addressing both ‘frontier risks’ and ‘practical policy levers’ suggests the dialogue was designed to bridge the gap between cutting-edge AI safety concerns and real-world implementation challenges across diverse economic and technological contexts. This framing likely influenced all subsequent technical and policy discussions to consider equity, inclusivity, and practical implementation across varying levels of development.

How can we ensure interoperability among both technical platforms and regulatory approaches?

Speaker

Tomas Lamanauskas

Explanation

This was identified as one of the clear themes that emerged from last year’s dialogue with over 1,500 participants, indicating it remains an unresolved challenge requiring further exploration

What role should international technical standards play in making policy and regulation flexible and agile?

Speaker

Tomas Lamanauskas

Explanation

This was highlighted as a key theme from previous discussions that needs continued attention to ensure effective AI governance frameworks

How can we implement effective global solidarity and resource sharing for AI governance?

Speaker

Tomas Lamanauskas

Explanation

This was identified as a critical need from last year’s dialogue that requires practical solutions and implementation strategies

How can we make international AI governance efforts more agile, inclusive, and future-ready?

Speaker

Majed Sultan Al Mesmar

Explanation

The co-chair indicated this would be a focus of reflection during the day’s discussions, suggesting it’s an area requiring ongoing development and refinement

What are the practical policy levers for implementing AI safety and governance measures?

Speaker

Majed Sultan Al Mesmar

Explanation

This was mentioned as one of the broad range of issues to be explored during the dialogue, indicating a need for concrete implementation guidance