The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) launched the AI for Good Global Commission on 2 July 2026 in Geneva, bringing together over 40 founding members from government, industry, and international organizations to shape the future of artificial intelligence governance. Co-chaired by Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, the commission aims to bridge digital divides and build trust in AI systems at a time when the technology is advancing faster than regulatory frameworks can keep up. India has three representatives among the founding members: Mukesh Ambani, Sunil Bharti Mittal, and Lakshmi N Mittal, placing the country at the table of one of the most significant global AI governance initiatives.
What Is the AI for Good Global Commission?
The AI for Good Global Commission is a high-level multistakeholder initiative that brings together leaders who build AI, deploy it at scale, shape policy, and represent communities. Its purpose is not merely to advance dialogue but to identify practical pathways for strengthening trust, supporting responsible innovation, and ensuring that AI delivers broad-based economic and social benefits worldwide.
The commission is chaired by Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda, and Marc Benioff, Chair, CEO, and Co-Founder of Salesforce, as co-chairs. Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Secretary-General of the ITU, serves as the permanent vice-chair. The body comprises 44 founding members, including heads of state (Estonia, Iceland), senior cabinet ministers from Kazakhstan, Namibia, Nigeria, Singapore, and Togo, and CEOs of the world’s most influential technology companies.
Founding members from the technology sector include Jensen Huang (NVIDIA), Andy Jassy (Amazon), Brad Smith (Microsoft), Julie Sweet (Accenture), Cristiano Amon (Qualcomm), James Manyika (Google and Alphabet), Jack Clark (Anthropic), and Aidan Gomez (Cohere). UN agency heads from UNDP, UNESCO, WIPO, WTO, and GSMA are also part of the commission, alongside leaders from Pfizer, Roche, Vodafone, Orange, MTN, ZTE, Grab, LSEG, FedEx, and others.
Why a Global Commission on AI?
Artificial intelligence is reshaping how knowledge is generated, decisions are made, and systems operate autonomously. But the speed of technological advancement has far outpaced the development of governance frameworks. As of 2026, there is no binding global treaty on AI. Different countries and regions have adopted divergent approaches: the European Union passed its AI Act, while the United States and China follow their own regulatory models. This fragmentation creates uncertainty for businesses and risks leaving developing nations behind.
The Trust Deficit
A core concern driving the commission’s creation is the erosion of public trust in AI. Issues such as algorithmic bias, misinformation, deepfakes, job displacement, and privacy violations have made citizens and governments wary. The commission seeks to address these by defining practical standards for responsible AI development, focusing on transparency, accountability, and human oversight.
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, in announcing the commission, said the promise of AI is built not only on opportunities for economic growth but on the foundation of trust required for shared success.
Bridging the Digital Divide
One in four people globally, about 2.2 billion individuals, remains completely offline and cut off from AI’s benefits. A key priority for the commission is ensuring that AI becomes a tool for solving global challenges rather than deepening existing inequalities. This includes focusing on AI applications in health, education, food security, and disaster response areas where the gap between wealthy and developing nations is most pronounced.
The commission builds directly on the operational foundation of the ITU/UNESCO Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development, a multistakeholder initiative that shaped global priorities for connectivity, digital inclusion, and economic development over the past decade.
India’s Representation on the Commission
India is represented by three prominent business leaders among the 44 founding members:
Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), leads India’s largest private sector company with interests spanning telecommunications (Jio), retail, and digital services. RIL’s Jio Platforms has been at the forefront of India’s digital transformation.
Sunil Bharti Mittal, Founder and Chairman of Bharti Enterprises Ltd, is the force behind Bharti Airtel, one of India’s largest telecommunications operators. He has been a consistent voice in global digital policy discussions.
Lakshmi N Mittal, Executive Chairman of ArcelorMittal SA, the world’s leading steel and mining company, brings a global manufacturing and industrial perspective.
The presence of three Indian founding members underscores India’s growing importance in the global AI landscape. With the world’s second-largest internet user base and a vibrant technology startup ecosystem, India has both a stake and a voice in how AI governance is shaped. The commission provides a platform for Indian industry leaders to influence standards, frameworks, and policies that will affect AI deployment in developing countries and the Global South.
The Broader Context: Geneva Digital Week
The launch of the AI for Good Global Commission was timed to coincide with a series of interconnected events in Geneva, collectively called Digital Week (6-10 July 2026). This clustering of events positioned Geneva as the world capital of AI and digital policy for that week.
Global Dialogue on AI Governance
For the first time, the UN General Assembly mandated a Global Dialogue on AI Governance under resolution A/RES/79/325, held on 6-7 July 2026 in Geneva. This dialogue, facilitated by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, gave every member state an equal seat at the table, ensuring that developing countries and the Global South participate with full standing to shape AI governance outcomes. Over 1,500 written submissions from organizations and individuals across all regional groups were received during the preparatory process.
AI for Good Global Summit 2026
The seventh AI for Good Global Summit (7-10 July 2026) at Geneva’s Palexpo convention centre drew more than 11,000 participants from 169 countries. The summit featured programmes on agentic AI, brain-computer interfaces, space computing, and robotics. The commission held its inaugural meeting during this summit.
The summit also hosted the WSIS Forum 2026 (6-10 July), reinforcing the continuum from digital cooperation principles to practical AI deployment.
This coordination of events reflects a deliberate strategy: the Global Dialogue sets the principles, the AI for Good Global Summit showcases the technology and solutions, and the AI for Good Global Commission drives ongoing governance work throughout the year.
About the International Telecommunication Union
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies (ICTs). It was established in 1865 as the International Telegraph Union, making it one of the oldest international organizations in existence. ITU is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and has 194 Member States along with over 1,000 companies, universities, and international and regional organizations as members.
ITU’s core functions include coordinating the global use of the radio spectrum and satellite orbits, establishing international technology standards, and driving universal connectivity and digital services. From artificial intelligence to quantum computing, from satellites to broadband networks, ITU works to connect the world and beyond.
Since 2017, ITU has been running the AI for Good platform, which it describes as the United Nations’ leading platform for advancing AI standards, skills, policy, and partnerships to solve global challenges. The AI for Good Global Summit, first held in 2017, has grown into a year-round digital community with over 55,000 members in its AI for Good Neural Network.
The Way Forward
The AI for Good Global Commission is designed as an ongoing body, not a one-time event. It will convene regularly to track progress on trust, access, and innovation in AI. The inaugural meeting on 8 July 2026 focused on AI infrastructure and applications in health, education, food security, and disaster response.
The commission’s work is expected to complement other international AI governance efforts, including the OECD AI Principles, the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of AI, and the Global Partnership on AI (GPAI). What distinguishes this commission is its composition: it places the CEOs of the companies building the most powerful AI systems in the same room as heads of state from developing nations, creating a direct channel between technology creators and the communities most affected by their products.
For India, participation in the commission offers an opportunity to shape global AI standards at a time when the country is deepening its own AI capabilities through initiatives such as the IndiaAI Mission, which includes building AI computing infrastructure, developing foundational models, and creating datasets for Indian languages.
Key Takeaways
- The AI for Good Global Commission was launched on 2 July 2026 by the ITU to strengthen global AI governance, inclusion, and innovation.
- The commission has 44 founding members and is co-chaired by Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. Doreen Bogdan-Martin, ITU Secretary-General, is the vice-chair.
- India is represented by three founding members: Mukesh Ambani (Reliance Industries), Sunil Bharti Mittal (Bharti Enterprises), and Lakshmi N Mittal (ArcelorMittal).
- The ITU, established in 1865 and headquartered in Geneva, is the UN specialized agency for ICTs with 194 Member States.
- The inaugural meeting was held during the AI for Good Global Summit 2026 (7-10 July), part of Geneva Digital Week, which also included the first UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance.
- About 2.2 billion people remain offline globally, and bridging this digital divide is a key priority for the commission.
