Trump denounces UN AI oversight as globalist plot as lab CEOs seek cooperation
Donald Trump labeled proposals for international AI oversight a “globalist scheme” at the UN, while OpenAI and Anthropic CEOs are set to brief the UN Security Council on AI safety the next day.
During his speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Donald Trump rejected calls for international AI oversight, branding them a “globalist scheme” and pledging not to curb the technology’s growth. He also mocked AI safety advocates, likening them to climate alarmists and dismissing existential AI threats. Meanwhile, the heads of two leading U.S. AI labs—Sam Altman of OpenAI and Dario Amodei of Anthropic—are scheduled to brief the UN Security Council on AI and international security, emphasizing safety work and the importance of global cooperation.
The livestreamed session will feature additional speakers such as Hugging Face CEO Clément Delangue and AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio, with invitations extended to Chinese firms DeepSeek and Moonshot. European leaders have urged binding safety measures, but the United States and China abstained, even as Trump prepares to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and host a state dinner with tech CEOs including Jensen Huang and Tim Cook.
Why it matters
The debate over AI governance pits U.S. leadership against calls for global regulation, shaping future security and industry rules.
How this story developed
- Jul 28 AI leaders urge U.S. to back global framework for slowing automated AI progress
- Sep 15 Microsoft released the humanist AI code and Nadella publicly urged paced, human‑centered AI development.
- Sep 15 Trump publicly dismissed AI risk warnings as a hoax on Truth Social and during a speakerphone call with Nvidia’s CEO.
- Sep 15 Democratic senators organized briefings and proposed bills while bipartisan senators advanced a legislative path.
- Sep 15 President Donald Trump rejected the CEOs' appeals and senior Republicans signaled reluctance, while Senator John Kennedy introduced a “kill switch” proposal.
- Sep 15 Trump and Xi are unlikely to agree to an AI slowdown at the upcoming summit.
- Sep 16 While a recent poll shows two-thirds of Americans fear AI could end humanity, conference goers largely dismissed imminent extinction. Attendees such as Dean Levita and Henry Sandles said they trust safeguards and focus on labor displacement, while Sara Jamison and Ashleigh Kaye highlighted the environmental toll of data centers. Others, like Deep Karia and Soumya Nimmu, worried about privacy, mental-health strain and misuse of AI in deepfakes and weapons.
- Sep 16 Jacob Coxon resigned from Anthropic after issuing the warning.
- Sep 17 In response to recent high-profile incidents involving rogue AI agents, CEOs and founders such as Dario Amodei, Sam Altman, Demis Hassabis, Satya Nadella and Elon Musk signed a joint statement calling for slower progress. The proposal outlines three steps: third-party safety auditors, industry coordination on standards, and global cooperation among democratic governments. Companies like Anthropic have already pledged to allow external evaluators access to their models.
- Sep 17 President Donald Trump met President Xi Jinping in Washington to discuss AI safety.
- Sep 18 Mark Zuckerberg and Jensen Huang publicly opposed a unified slowdown, emphasizing market incentives.
- Sep 18 Lawmakers have begun focusing on updating Section 230 and school‑board decisions related to AI.
- Sep 19 Microsoft released a humanist AI code of conduct after Suleiman’s warning.
- Sep 22 David Sacks was installed as the president’s senior AI adviser, shaping a deregulatory White House policy.
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