The United Nations chief urged global competitors in artificial intelligence (AI) on Wednesday to cooperate in addressing threats from the technology, warning that “the world cannot afford a race to the bottom on AI safety”.
Secretary-General António Guterres said concerns raised by those on the front lines of AI technology, that its development “is racing ahead of our understanding of the risks”, can’t be ignored.
Governments must assume their first responsibility to protect civilians from AI threats, which means “national action is essential”, Guterres told UN reporters. “But global coordination is also indispensable.”
“We need guard rails to build trust – and that make AI safe, transparent, accountable, with human dignity at the centre.”
Guterres was referring to a proposal from Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, to ensure AI safety by coordinating a slowdown in its development by leading technology companies and governments.
OpenAI’s Sam Altman, SpaceXAI’s Elon Musk and other prominent industry leaders have said in recent days that AI’s development needs to slow down. But Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg distanced the company on Wednesday, saying every AI company has to ensure its technology is safe.
There are other obstacles to a coordinated effort on AI, including domestic and global competition, especially from China, and profit motivations. And there has been pushback from President Donald Trump, who this week called threats that AI might destroy humanity “a HOAX” and claimed that efforts to limit the technology are part of a “SICK conspiracy.”
Guterres has praised the enormous potential of AI, including to accelerate economic development and education and to strengthen health systems. But he has also warned of the “existential” threat of “runaway artificial intelligence”. He said AI will be a major topic in his discussions with world leaders at their annual gathering next week for the high-level session of the UN General Assembly.
“The United Nations will continue to explore practical ideas and approaches in the immediate days ahead,” Guterres said. “We need a shared understanding of how to advance the safe, secure and responsible development of AI – while identifying when increasingly powerful systems may require stronger safeguards, or additional measures to manage potential risks.”
At Guterres’ behest, the General Assembly established the first global scientific body on AI in 2025. In its preliminary report in July, the 40-member panel warned that the rapid, unchecked use of AI at scale risks harm to the mental health of users, “potential use as a destructive tool, impacts on social, economic and environmental systems, and challenges associated with controlling the technology”.
The secretary-general told reporters he is aware that geopolitical divides might pose problems. But he said countries “that have the highest capacity in the frontiers of AI” should establish contact, exchange information, and agree on some common guard rails “to avoid this race to the bottom that could lead one day to a gigantic disaster at global level”.
Guterres responded to a question asking whether next week’s meeting of top officials from the UN’s 193 member nations wouldn’t be the perfect opportunity for a summit on curbing the excesses of AI. He said there wasn’t time to properly prepare a meeting.
But he said, “I think it makes full sense at the right moment to have a serious international summit on artificial intelligence.” And at a summit, he said, “it is absolutely essential to have everybody on board” – governments, companies, scientists and civil society – “and I hope that this will be possible.”
AP
