AI for Good Global Summit 2026

Day Zero of the AI for Good Global Summit on July 7 features live demos, interactive exhibits, startup competitions and hands-on workshops. It runs in parallel with the final day of the Global Dialogue on AI Governance. Centre Stage, the primary keynote venue, officially opens on July 8. Day Zero is designed to give technical practitioners, youth participants and competition finalists hands-on access to the summit before the high-level programme begins.

The summit will feature the world premiere of RAISE, a six-part documentary series exploring how AI is already being used to address humanity's most urgent challenges. The series is executive produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, directed by Michael P. Nash and produced by Beverly Hills Productions, following scientists, engineers and innovators deploying AI in real-world solutions across health, climate, food security and disaster response.

John Legend, the Grammy-winning musician and philanthropist, is confirmed on the official speakers page. His presence reflects the summit's consistent positioning at the intersection of technology, culture and humanitarian impact.

H.E. Mr. Alar Karis, President of Estonia, is confirmed on the official speakers page. Estonia is one of the world's leading digital governance models and President Karis brings a head-of-state perspective on national AI strategy, digital public services and the policy conditions that allow AI to serve entire populations.

The Robotics for Good Youth Challenge Grand Finale 2026 brings 68 finalist teams from 39 countries to Palexpo on July 7 for the culminating event of the year's competition, focused on robotics and AI for food security. The Grand Finale runs as part of Day Zero and is open to the full summit audience.

For the first time, the AI for Good Global Summit runs immediately after the inaugural Global Dialogue on AI Governance, convened by the United Nations General Assembly and facilitated by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The Global Dialogue runs July 6 and 7 at Palexpo. This sequencing is deliberate: governments and policymakers can move directly from the UN governance dialogue into the practical innovation and standards programme of the AI for Good Summit.

The ITU Kaleidoscope academic conference takes place July 7 to 9 within the AI for Good Global Summit. Under the theme AI and frontier technologies for good, it brings together leaders from academia, industry and government to explore how emerging technologies can be developed and applied responsibly. The conference features academic paper presentations, keynote speeches and sessions covering resilient network infrastructures, applications and services, and the broader social, economic and policy dimensions of AI.

Gold Sponsors are the Ministry of Science and ICT of the Republic of Korea and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan. Silver Sponsors are EY and John Wiley and Sons. Networking Partners include d-teach, Giga, HP Inc. UK, Google, Lenovo and TikTok. Session Partners include Access Partnership, Cisco, EY, FSAB Consulting, GTI and Microsoft. Innovation Factory Local Chapters include Akbank and the Government of Catalonia. PixVerse is an official partner for the AI for Good Film Festival.

The 2026 summit introduces a participation fee to enhance the overall attendance experience. Participation remains free for ITU Member States, UN agencies, civil society organisations and attendees under 18 years old. Discounts are available for ITU-member companies and universities. Full pass details and pricing are at aiforgood.itu.int/summit26/passes.

The governance and standards track sits at the heart of the 2026 programme, given the summit's back-to-back positioning with the UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance. Sessions address agentic AI security, AI testing and benchmarking, misinformation and deepfakes, quantum technology applications and AI infrastructure and energy demands. The AI Standards Exchange Database and the ITU's ongoing collaboration with ISO and IEC on interoperable AI standards frameworks are covered throughout the week.

The Frontier Stage covers the most advanced current developments in AI and adjacent technologies, including agentic AI systems, edge AI and TinyML, brain-computer interfaces, space computing and quantum computing. The Quantum for Good track addresses quantum information technologies and their potential to transform industries and societies, with the Future Leaders in Quantum Hackathon held during the summit week.

AI for health is a prominent track covering diagnostic AI, AI in drug discovery, AI for disease surveillance and the governance of health data. Sessions address how AI can be deployed equitably across health systems at different levels of resource, with particular attention to developing countries and the conditions under which AI health tools can reach the populations that most need them.

Sessions cover AI for tracking deforestation, monitoring biodiversity, detecting emissions and enabling collaboration between climate and AI scientists. The intersection of AI's environmental cost, including energy and water demands of large model training, with AI's potential as a climate tool is a recurring theme across the programme.

Capacity-building is a central pillar of the summit. Sessions cover the AI Skills Coalition, the Young AI Leaders Community, and training programmes for both youth and adult learners. The expanded Youth Zone introduces a dedicated stage for the first time in 2026, with a week-long programme for participants from age 10 upward, alongside hands-on workshops run by AI Skills Coalition partners.

The AI for Good Film Festival, the Canvas of the Future AI Art Competition and the world premiere of the RAISE documentary series produced by Leonardo DiCaprio address the intersection of AI and creativity. PixVerse, an AI video generation platform, partners with the summit for the Film Festival. The programme also includes AI-enabled artistic performances and sessions on AI in music, film and cultural preservation.

Centre Stage is the primary keynote venue, opening on July 8 after Day Zero. It hosts heads of state, UN leadership, industry CEOs and researchers delivering the headline programme on AI governance, sovereign AI, AI for the SDGs and frontier technology developments.

The Solutions Stage highlights deployable AI tools and technologies addressing real-world challenges across health, climate, education and food security. The Frontier Stage covers cutting-edge research and the most advanced developments in agentic AI, edge AI, TinyML, brain-computer interfaces and quantum computing.

The Youth Zone is expanded in 2026 with a dedicated Youth Stage for the first time, running a full week-long programme for participants aged 10 and above. Hands-on robotics and AI workshops run alongside the Robotics for Good Youth Challenge Grand Finale, which brings 68 finalist teams from 39 countries to compete on food security challenges.

The UN AI Hub Stage provides a dedicated platform for UN agency-led sessions on AI across humanitarian, development and policy mandates. Town Square is an open-format space for community sessions, networking and informal dialogue running throughout the four days.

Global innovation competitions running at the summit include the AI for Good Innovation Factory Grand Finale, the Robotics for Good Youth Challenge Grand Finale, the AWS AI League, machine-learning challenges on edge AI, TinyML and space AI computing, and the Future Leaders in Quantum Hackathon. The AI for Good Impact Awards recognise outstanding contributions to responsible AI deployment across the SDG framework.

The AI for Good Film Festival showcases AI-powered short films in competition across multiple sessions during the summit. The Canvas of the Future AI Art Competition and a dedicated AI Art Gallery display collaborations between artists and AI systems. The world premiere of RAISE, a six-part documentary executive produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, takes place during the summit week.

The ITU Kaleidoscope academic conference runs July 7 to 9 within the summit, bringing together academic researchers, industry engineers and government representatives to present peer-reviewed papers on AI and frontier technologies. Sessions address resilient network infrastructures, applications and services, and the social, economic and policy dimensions of emerging technologies.

The Leaders Lounge hosts high-level private meetings, CxO roundtables and invite-only receptions for heads of state, UN agency leaders, government ministers and senior industry executives throughout the four days.

The back-to-back positioning with the UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance makes AI for Good 2026 essential for government delegations tracking multilateral AI governance frameworks, national AI strategy benchmarks and the regulatory conversations shaping international standards. Ministers from over 100 countries attended the 2025 summit, with more than half from developing countries.

The ITU Kaleidoscope conference, the machine-learning challenges and the Frontier Stage give researchers a direct platform to present work and engage with the international standards community. The AI for Good Impact Awards recognise applied research that moves the needle on SDG outcomes.

Sessions on agentic AI security, AI standards, AI infrastructure and energy efficiency give enterprise technology leaders a direct view of the international standards and governance frameworks that will shape AI deployment decisions over the next several years. Session Partners including Cisco, Microsoft and Google reflect the enterprise dimension of the programme.

The AI for Good Innovation Factory Grand Finale, the AWS AI League and the Robotics for Good Youth Challenge give early-stage teams and university researchers a global platform and access to a network of UN agencies, government partners and industry sponsors looking for scalable AI solutions to SDG challenges.

Participation remains free for civil society organisations, giving NGOs, nonprofits and community-led innovators full access to the summit alongside governments and industry. Sessions on AI for health, AI for climate and AI for food security are designed with civil society practitioners as a primary audience.