The U.N. has been trying — since well before a former Anthropic and OpenAI staffer warned about AI potentially ending humanity within the next decade — to establish itself as the venue for these discussions. After all, both the U.S. and China sit on the Security Council.
One of the key bodies at the U.N. formed in recent years to confront new AI challenges is the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI, which released a preliminary report on AI risks at a U.N. AI summit in Geneva in July. The report will be the foundation of the U.N.’s Global Dialogue on AI Governance, set to take place in New York next May.
Maria Ressa, co-chair of the panel, said this week that the world is close to “falling off a cliff” if global leaders don’t take action on AI, and criticized the U.S. for being one of only two nations to vote against the formation of her panel last year.
“I feel like Cassandra and Sisyphus combined. It’s getting worse, don’t let them tell you it’s just now, it started a decade ago when we documented the harms, and … very little has been done to protect you,” Ressa said Tuesday at an event on the sidelines of the General Assembly.
But the Trump administration has downgraded support for the U.N. and for global cooperation generally over the past two years, and even if the U.S. reversed course, creating policies and treaties at the U.N. level is a difficult, and often long, process.
The U.N.’s controversial cybercrime treaty was first formally proposed in 2017, but not finalized until 2024. AI policy faces an even tougher road ahead.
And high-level discussions of the risks of AI are moving to Washington, where Trump welcomed Xi on Wednesday evening. On Thursday, tech industry bigwigs — including Altman — will be attending the state dinner Trump is holding for the Chinese leader.
Daniella Cheslow contributed to this report.