A collaborative global initiative of 44 member countries

The Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) is an international initiative currently consisting of 44 member countries that promotes the responsible development and use of artificial intelligence (AI). Informed by a multistakeholder expert community that brings together governments, industry, academia, and civil society, it seeks to advance human-centric and trustworthy AI.

In 2019, the OECD adopted the OECD AI Principles, the first intergovernmental standard on AI. These are the common foundations on which GPAI countries orient the initiative’s work.

In July 2024, the GPAI initiative and OECD member countries’ work on AI joined forces under the GPAI brand to create an integrated partnership. In its renewed form, the GPAI countries participate on equal footing. The expanded partnership encourages new countries to join, subject to a consensus among the full membership.

Governance and structure

GPAI’s governance structure ensures inclusive participation and informed decision-making at all levels. The partnership is guided by a Council, Plenary, and Steering Group, with support from the OECD Secretariat. Below is a summary of the structure (for full details, see the official partnership proposal).

The GPAI Council

The GPAI Council provides high-level strategic orientation to GPAI’s work and objectives. It brings together representatives from GPAI member countries at the ministerial level, as well as senior-level stakeholders representing business, civil society, trade unions, the technical community, and Centres of the GPAI Expert Community in France, Canada, and Japan. The Council meets regularly, hosted by a Council Chair.

The GPAI Plenary

The Plenary meets twice a year and is GPAI’s primary working body, bringing together all members on an equal footing. The Plenary plays a crucial role in discussing AI governance, endorsing policy outputs, approving the work programme, and deciding on new members. Observers, including business leaders, civil society organisations, trade unions, the technical community, and other international organisations, also participate in the Plenary. As such, observers contribute to discussions, albeit without decision-making power.

The Steering Group

The Steering Group supports the Plenary by preparing proposals and coordinating initiatives between meetings. It consists of a subset of representatives from interested member countries and the European Union, as well as representatives from the business sector, civil society, and the GPAI Expert Support Centres. Meeting regularly, the Steering Group plays an important role in shaping the work programme and advancing projects.

A diverse and inclusive expert community

GPAI’s expert layer is a vibrant, multidisciplinary community of over 500 AI specialists from government, industry, academia, and civil society. It serves as a hub for collaboration, offers technical advice, and conducts innovative research to inform and help shape AI policy.

The expert community is organised into working groups aligned with GPAI’s programme of work, ensuring that its outputs reflect practical insights and emerging trends in AI. The Centres of the GPAI Expert Community in Paris, Montreal, and Tokyo are an essential part of the expert community and support testing, piloting and scaling projects among other activities.

Driving international cooperation and trustworthy AI

GPAI is uniquely positioned to address global AI challenges by combining technical expertise with robust governance frameworks. GPAI promotes responsible AI innovation.

The partnership continues to grow, welcoming new countries and expanding its collaborative network to shape the future of AI governance and innovation globally.

Conditions for countries to join GPAI

As a general-purpose digital technology, the development, deployment, and use of artificial intelligence cut across sectors and impact countries around the world. The growing recognition of the benefits and risks of AI has led to new international initiatives on AI, involving different sets of countries and stakeholders. The global opportunities and challenges presented by AI require inclusive engagement and multi-stakeholder participation.

The GPAI, through its broad government membership and expansive AI expert community, offers a unique international setting for these efforts.

Countries seeking to join GPAI as new members are required to meet and sustain the following three conditions as well as commit to paying annual membership dues of EUR 20 000:

• Commitment to the shared values reflected in the OECD Recommendation on Artificial Intelligence by adherence thereto.
• Demonstration of a proactive role in advancing responsible AI, grounded in human rights, both on domestic and international levels, as well as with organisations and initiatives.
• Demonstration of the capacity to nominate experts with sufficient knowledge of AI-related issues to inform the work of the Integrated Partnership.

Application process

Countries interested in becoming GPAI members are invited to formally express their interest by sending an email to the Secretariat at gpai@oecd.org. Upon preliminary examination of their expression of interest, interested countries may be invited to complete an application form and provide information relative to meeting the above conditions. As part of and for the duration of the consideration of their application, interested countries may be invited to engage with the GPAI more closely and take part in GPAI meetings and activities.

Decisions on membership to GPAI are taken by the consensus of the existing members of GPAI. The application form will be provided to GPAI members as submitted to facilitate their decision.

Membership applications will be considered on a rolling basis, and interested countries may express interest at any time. The membership of GPAI strives to consider applications in a timely fashion and the Secretariat will communicate with the applicant regarding the timing of the process and next steps as soon as feasible.

Once an application has been considered and approved, the applicant country will be invited to become a GPAI member and to formalise their membership through an exchange of letters between the country and the OECD.