A new statute moves the international centre from establishment to institutional operation, authorising it to open branches outside the Kingdom, provide advisory services, and produce reports across a scope encompassing all UNESCO Member States

Exclusive | BETH

A close reading of the Statute of the International Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research and Ethics reveals that the Kingdom is not merely establishing a new research centre in Riyadh. It is building an international institution capable of extending its expertise and programmes beyond Saudi borders and contributing to the development of policies governing the world’s relationship with artificial intelligence.

The news is the issuance of the Centre’s Statute. Yet the more significant development embedded in its provisions is the authority granted to the Centre to establish branches and offices inside and outside the Kingdom and to operate across a scope encompassing all Member States of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO.

The Centre has legal personality and financial and administrative independence. It operates as an international centre under the auspices of UNESCO, with its headquarters in Riyadh.

The text does not mean that the Centre has already decided to open international branches or identified the countries that might host them. It does, however, establish the legal foundation allowing the Centre to expand whenever its work requires, without having to reconstruct its legal status in the future.

The Statute therefore goes beyond announcing the establishment of an international centre. It lays the foundations for a knowledge network that could originate in Riyadh and deliver research, advisory services, and training programmes to countries and institutions seeking to develop their artificial intelligence policies.

Riyadh is not merely hosting the dialogue on AI ethics; it is building the institution capable of turning that dialogue into sustained international action.

What Is New?

In its report, “Conscience Before the Algorithm,” BETH previously examined the concept of AI ethics, the risks of bias and privacy violations, responsibility for decisions made by automated systems, and the human role in overseeing algorithms.

The report also discussed Riyadh’s preparations to host UNESCO’s Fourth Global Forum on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence and noted the Kingdom’s transition from investing in technology to participating in the international debate over the rules governing its use.

The latest development is not an explanation of ethics or an announcement of the Forum. It is the issuance of the Statute defining how the international Centre will operate, who will govern its decisions, how its activities will be financed, what powers it will possess, and how far its reach may extend beyond the Kingdom.

The Centre has thus moved from a decision establishing it to a fully structured institution—from an international title based in Riyadh to an entity equipped with the tools for research, training, advisory services, contracting, and geographical expansion.

From Riyadh Abroad

The Statute stipulates that the Centre’s headquarters shall be in Riyadh and permits it to establish branches and offices inside and outside the Kingdom as needed.

It also extends the scope of its activities to all UNESCO Member States, giving it an international reach that is not confined to a particular geographical region or group of countries.

The importance of this authority lies in the different needs countries have when dealing with artificial intelligence.

Some countries are developing advanced systems and require rules governing their use in healthcare, education, security, and employment. Others are still building legislation, developing expertise, and identifying the authorities responsible for overseeing the technology.

Overseas branches and offices could enable the Centre to work more closely with the needs of each region and develop programmes suited to its legal, cultural, and technological circumstances, rather than managing an entire global operation from a single headquarters.

Accuracy, however, requires distinguishing between the authority to expand and a decision to expand. The Statute grants the Centre that authority, while the establishment of branches remains dependent on its future plans, operational requirements, and agreements with host countries.

Nevertheless, including this authority in the Statute indicates that an international presence is not a passing idea, but an institutional possibility incorporated into the Centre’s design from the outset.

Who Participates in Decision-Making?

The composition of the Centre’s Governing Board reflects its international character.

The Board is chaired by the President of the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority and includes a representative of the UNESCO Director-General and up to seven members representing UNESCO Member States.

It also includes representatives of national public or private bodies and institutions, as well as representatives of international governmental and private organisations. The Centre’s Director-General serves as Secretary to the Board without voting rights.

The Board approves the Centre’s medium- and long-term programmes, adopts its annual work plan, issues its financial and administrative regulations, and reviews assessment reports measuring the Centre’s contribution to the objectives of UNESCO programmes.

It is also authorised to decide on the participation of governmental, regional, and international organisations and bodies in the Centre’s activities, establish permanent or temporary committees and working groups, and engage experts from within or outside the Centre.

This means that the programmes and recommendations emerging from Riyadh will not be developed from a single local perspective, but within a Board that includes representatives of countries and national and international institutions.

This structure gives the Centre an opportunity to become a meeting point for diverse experiences, particularly because the ethical issues surrounding artificial intelligence cannot be understood separately from each society’s culture, legal systems, and level of technological development.

Principles Become Services

The Centre’s mandate is not limited to raising awareness or organising conferences.

The Statute authorises it to support scientific research, develop capabilities, design training programmes, and facilitate the exchange of knowledge and expertise in AI policies and ethics.

It may also build international platforms, provide technical advisory services, produce research, technical, and media reports, participate in international organisations, and conclude agreements and contracts with domestic and foreign entities.

The Centre may also set fees for its services and accept grants, donations, gifts, and endowments in accordance with the applicable legal procedures.

These powers reveal that the Centre does not intend to confine itself to issuing general principles. It can help countries and institutions develop the tools needed to put those principles into practice.

The global problem is no longer a lack of discussion about AI ethics. It is how to transform those ethics into procedures within hospitals, schools, banks, platforms, and government institutions.

Entities using intelligent systems need to assess their impact on rights and privacy, test for bias, assign responsibility, establish mechanisms for appeal, and train employees to know when to accept an algorithmic decision and when to reject it.

This is where the Centre’s potential role becomes clear:

It will not merely define ethical use; it can help institutions determine how closely they adhere to it.

Reports That Could Shape Standards

The authority to produce research and technical reports may appear to be a routine function of research centres, but it could become one of the Centre’s most influential instruments.

Reports issued by an international centre operating under UNESCO’s auspices, with countries and institutions represented on its Board, could become references used by governments, companies, and universities when developing their policies.

In the future, such reports could extend to assessing institutional readiness, identifying risks, comparing national experiences, and evaluating the impact of artificial intelligence on rights, employment, education, and healthcare.

Reports do not carry the force of law in themselves. International standards, however, often begin with a study or recommendation, then develop into operational guidance before eventually entering legislation, contracts, and market requirements.

Those who produce the knowledge on which a standard is built help shape decisions, even if they are not the ones who formally issue them.

UNESCO: A Partner, Not a Manager

The Centre operates under UNESCO’s auspices and may use that designation in its name and documents in accordance with specified rules.

The organisation may also provide technical assistance to the Centre, make its experts available, participate in staff exchanges, and temporarily second some of its personnel to implement joint activities or projects.

The Statute further provides for a representative of the UNESCO Director-General to sit on the Governing Board and allows personnel from the organisation to be seconded to work within the Centre’s administrative structure.

This does not, however, turn the Centre into a department subordinate to UNESCO. It retains financial and administrative independence, while its financial management, assets, and regulations remain subject to the laws and regulations applicable in the Kingdom.

This structure combines the Centre’s institutional independence with the international status and technical expertise provided through its relationship with UNESCO.

The Kingdom Builds Lasting Capital

Saudi Arabia’s role is not limited to providing premises bearing the Centre’s name.

The Statute provides for the financial and in-kind resources necessary to operate the Centre and support its performance to be made available in cooperation with the Saudi government. These include buildings and their maintenance, equipment, facilities, communications, and personnel.

Its resources consist of contributions from the government of the Kingdom, grants, donations, gifts, and endowments it is authorised to accept, in addition to any other resources approved by the Governing Board.

One of the Statute’s most significant provisions, however, appears in relation to the possibility of the Centre’s dissolution. It stipulates that all of its tangible and intellectual assets would revert to the government of the Kingdom, while safeguarding the established rights of other parties.

This means that what is built within the Centre is not limited to furniture, premises, and equipment. It includes knowledge capital that may comprise research, methodologies, platforms, tools, and programmes.

The Kingdom is therefore not temporarily hosting an international activity. It is building institutional and intellectual capital within Saudi Arabia that would remain connected to the country even in the hypothetical event that the Centre ceased to exist.

The Forum Is Not the End

The issuance of the Statute carries additional significance ahead of Riyadh’s hosting of UNESCO’s Fourth Global Forum on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence from 14 to 17 September 2026.

BETH has previously examined the Forum’s importance and the questions it will raise concerning responsibility, privacy, bias, and human oversight.

The Statute now reveals what could happen after the participants leave Riyadh.

The Forum lasts four days, while the Centre can follow up on its recommendations throughout the year, conduct research, design programmes, build partnerships, and provide advisory services to countries and institutions.

Riyadh would therefore not merely be the place where the problem is discussed, but the headquarters of an institution capable of pursuing solutions, testing them, and transferring them abroad.

What Does Riyadh Gain?

Countries around the world are competing to develop more powerful AI models and attract technology companies, data centres, and investment.

Influence over the future of artificial intelligence, however, is not created by computing power alone. It is also shaped by the institutions that develop the rules and standards determining where the technology may be used, who bears responsibility for its errors, and which rights it must never violate.

The Centre does not give Riyadh the authority to issue legislation binding on other countries. It does, however, provide a platform that brings together governments, experts, and institutions and produces research, recommendations, and tools that countries may use when developing their laws.

It also gives the Kingdom an opportunity to bring the Arabic language and regional cultures into the global discussion, ensuring that AI standards are not built entirely on data, experiences, and priorities produced by other societies.

A system that does not understand a society’s language, culture, or character may appear technically neutral while producing unfair decisions when applied.

Riyadh is therefore not merely the Centre’s geographical headquarters. It is a window through which the region can participate in writing the rules of a technology that will shape its future.

Assessment

No overseas branches have yet been established, and no countries have been announced as potential hosts. The Centre’s actual value will also depend on the composition of its Board, its programmes and partnerships, and the research and practical tools it produces.

The Statute, however, has established the structure required to begin this phase.

Riyadh now hosts an independent international centre operating under UNESCO’s auspices, with a mandate encompassing the organisation’s Member States and the authority to establish branches outside the Kingdom, provide advisory services, produce reports, build platforms, and conclude agreements.

In “Conscience Before the Algorithm,” the question was: How can humans remain responsible for the machine?

The new Statute offers an initial Saudi institutional response: build a centre that does not merely pose the question, but can help the world search for the rules needed to apply its answer.

The next phase will not be shaped solely by the countries developing artificial intelligence, but also by those helping to determine what it should do—and what it must be prevented from doing.