Tech leaders including CEOs of Anthropic, OpenAI, and Hugging Face addressed the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday, urging global cooperation to regulate artificial intelligence before it becomes uncontrollable. Their plea came amid growing concerns that the rapid expansion of AI technology poses risks not just to individual nations, but to humanity itself.
Warnings from Industry Leaders
Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, cautioned that if AI is mismanaged, it could threaten human civilization. His statement echoed similar concerns raised by Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, who warned that humanity might lose control of the future to AI.
Both executives emphasized the need for international safeguards, specifically through the UN Security Council, to prevent the technology from becoming too powerful to rein in. They also called for ensuring AI does not become concentrated within a single company or country.
Despite these warnings, they acknowledged AI’s potential benefits, with Altman highlighting its capacity to empower individuals and improve lives. However, their message was clear: action must be taken now to prevent catastrophic outcomes.
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Global Response and Division
British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband responded to the tech leaders’ testimony, stating, “They also touted the benefits of the technology for bettering humanity and what Altman called ‘giving people more power over their own lives.’ Those tech leaders ‘are telling us in stark terms that it cannot be left to them to prevent disaster from befalling the world,'”
Miliband announced plans to place AI governance at the center of G20 discussions when the UK assumes leadership next year, aiming to establish unified global standards for safe AI development. Yet not all nations share this urgency.
The United States, represented by White House Science Adviser Michael Kratsios, cautioned against halting AI progress. “We cannot ignore them because they are right. AI will be at the heart of G20 discussions,” Kratsios said, emphasizing the desire to share technological benefits among allies.
China, meanwhile, has pushed back against what it perceives as Western attempts to dominate AI regulation. Chinese UN Ambassador Fu Cong warned against forming exclusive tech alliances that force other countries to pick sides, advocating instead for open-source models aligned with China’s vision of AI development.
Human Control Over Life-and-Death Decisions
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking at the UN General Assembly, stressed the urgency of maintaining human oversight over AI in warfare. “There is already a real possibility that AI, not only people, will begin to decide what happens on the battlefield,” he said. His remarks followed allegations of an AI-enabled drone strike in Ukraine that reportedly resulted in civilian casualties.
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Academic voices joined political leaders in raising alarms. Kentaro Toyama, an IT professor at the University of Michigan, described killer robots as technically feasible and alarmingly real. Similarly, Rumman Chowdhury, co-founder of Humane Intelligence, challenged the public to focus on accountability rather than science fiction scenarios.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot invoked both fictional and historical parallels, likening today’s AI developments to HAL 9000 from “2001: A Space Odyssey” and the dawn of the nuclear age. “We want you, our allies and partners, to share in the benefits of this technology. The US and China are jostling for AI dominance – and Chinese UN Ambassador Fu Cong emphasised that all countries should be able to choose AI technology as they see fit,” he said.
Geopolitical Stakes and Future Outlook
The timing of the UN meetings coincided with high-level diplomatic engagement between the U.S. and China. Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Washington for a highly anticipated state visit, during which AI cooperation and competition were expected to feature prominently in talks with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Earlier discussions hinted at possible frameworks for managing AI risks, including a proposed incident notification mechanism discussed by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
