16 September 2026
Those concerns intensified after
a former researcher at the AI company Anthropic warned on 8
September that AI could pose an existential threat to
humanity.
For the UN, the best way to address AI’s
global risks is to bring countries together to adopt shared
principles and commitments on AI
governance.
Coordination is
‘indispensable’
“National action is essential,
but global coordination is indispensable,” UN
Secretary-General António Guterres said on
Wednesday.
The UN has worked for several years to
provide a forum where countries can develop a shared
understanding of AI technologies and discuss how they can
cooperate – and provide a regulatory framework – on
issues such as safety, human rights and disparities in
access.
Rules-based development
The UN’s
current work on AI governance stems from the Global Digital
Compact, adopted by Member States in 2024 as part of the
UN’s Pact for the Future, exactly two years ago.
The
Compact called for international cooperation on AI and
proposed two new mechanisms: an independent scientific panel
to assess the AI’s risks and opportunities, and an annual
global dialogue where governments and other stakeholders
could coordinate approaches to AI governance.
In
August 2025, the UN General Assembly – UNGA as we call it
for short – formally established both.
The
Independent International Scientific Panel on AI aims to
provide governments with an independent assessment of what
is known – and what isn’t known – about the rapidly
developing technology.
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The Global Dialogue on AI
Governance, meanwhile, brings governments and other
stakeholders together to discuss international cooperation,
share experience and work towards greater compatibility
between different approaches to AI governance.
The
General Assembly designed the two institutions to complement
each other: the Scientific Panel provides the evidence, and
countries decide at the Global Dialogue what to do in
response.
The Scientific Panel’s first preliminary
report, released 1 July, concluded that AI capabilities are
advancing rapidly – especially in areas such as reasoning,
coding and science – creating significant
opportunities.
It also identified risks such as
misinformation, discrimination, privacy violations,
cyberattacks and so-called “superintelligence” that
could become difficult to control.
“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,” Mr. Guterres said in his pre-UNGA remarks to the
world’s media in New York.
Working towards AI
guardrails
The UN’s work comes as discussions move
from whether AI should be regulated, to questions about
which safeguards should be implemented.
On Wednesday,
Mr. Guterres called for international cooperation to ensure
that AI development remains safe, secure and responsible. He
added that voluntary efforts to slow AI development will not
be sufficient if they are isolated, unverifiable or unevenly
applied.
Asked about how the UN could convene a summit
as part of a process leading to effective regulation for
humankind, he said it could not be done next week – but it
should happen soon, with “everybody on board” from the
public, private, scientific, and civil society
sectors.
“If we believe AI development should slow
when risks become too great, we need more than good
intentions,” he said.
The Secretary-General has
called for an AI Child Safety Pledge and a Global Fund for
AI, which would support developing countries in building AI
infrastructure and capacity.
He also stressed the need
for guardrails that make AI “safe, transparent,
accountable, with human dignity at the
centre.”
While national and regional governments
make their own decisions about AI regulation, the UN’s
role will be to bring these governments together, provide a
scientific basis for discussions and identify areas for
international cooperation.
AI at UNGA
Some
diplomatic sources quoted in news reports speculate that the
Security Council will discuss artificial intelligence during
the high-level week.
At UN Headquarters on the
sidelines of the General Debate – where AI concerns will
no doubt loom large at the podium – the UN’s SDG Media
Zone will host an event on 21 September, and the AI and
Human Development series will culminate with a discussion on
23 September. Both events will focus on the relationship
between AI and human agency.
Mr. Guterres underscored
during his press conference Wednesday that AI will be “a
major topic” in his discussions with world leaders next
week.
Comparing AI development to the Cold War-era
arms race between the US and Soviet Union, the
Secretary-General called for cooperation between countries
at the forefront of AI – including the US and China – to
slow down AI development while risks continue to be
assessed.
“The countries that have the highest
capacity in the frontiers of AI – I think they should
establish mechanisms of contact, have an exchange of
information and (create) some common guardrails in order to
avoid a race to the bottom that could one day lead to a
gigantic disaster at the global level,” Mr. Guterres
said.
With the scientific and diplomatic mechanisms
now in place, the UN will continue to work to turn that
cooperation into concrete action as AI becomes increasingly
powerful.
