Swiss minister calls for ‘genuinely multi-stakeholder’ process in AI governance

The participation of everyone in AI, including developing countries, will be one of the issues on which Switzerland intends to focus in 2027 at the World Summit on AI in Geneva, the minister said. Keystone-SDA

AI governance must put people at the centre, Swiss Environment Minister Albert Rösti said in Geneva on Monday. Speaking on behalf of some 40 countries, Rösti announced that the next global AI summit, scheduled to take place in the same city, will be held June 21-22, 2027.

The Freedom Online Coalition, chaired this year by Switzerland, is calling for genuinely multi-stakeholder processes, Rösti said during the first Global Dialogue on the Governance of Artificial Intelligence (AI), hosted by the United Nations in Geneva and bringing together several thousand people from over 170 countries.

The United Nations must “lead by example in its own practices,” added the minister, who heads the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC).

This applies in particular to the way it operates, but also to collaborations relating to this technology. People must be at the centre, and AI must be “firmly rooted” in human rights, he said.

We must also recognise the threats, the minister said in his speech, including arbitrary surveillance, disinformation and the undermining of institutions.

The participation of everyone in AI, including developing countries, will be one of the issues on which Switzerland intends to focus in 2027 at the World Summit on AI in Geneva. The Alpine country also wants to better link regulatory processes, science, technology and practical applications. AI governance must be operational, Rösti said.

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Translated from French/sub-editing gw