UN chief Antonio Guterres called Tuesday for AI superpowers, the United States and China, to start a dialogue on the fast-moving technology's future, as calls grow to rein in the sector’s rapid development amid concerns about its potential impact on humanity. “Governments with the greatest AI capabilities have the greatest responsibilities to humanity, to establish channels for dialogue, transparency, trust and cooperation,” Guterres said at the General Debate of the 81st Session of the UN General Assembly in New York. “At a pivotal moment during the Cold War, strategic rivals came to recognize the need to manage shared existential risks,” he noted. China and the US are currently discussing creating a communication channel for AI concerns in anticipation of a Washington summit meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday. The talks come as both powers confront rising fears that increasingly capable artificial intelligence systems could wipe out humanity, offering a rare incentive for cooperation despite an intensifying race for technological supremacy. Power Has Polarized the World In his final address to the annual high-level gathering at the UN General Assembly, Guterres urged leaders to avoid what he called “the great fracture – the division of the world into two rival blocs with separate economic, technological and security systems.” He rebuked might-makes-right thinking, telling superpowers to recognize “that their power isn’t so super” — that “military power alone cannot secure peace” and that “no power can solve today’s challenges alone,” according to AP. The future will be shaped by how the world addresses “four great tests of power” – power over war and peace, power fueling climate chaos, power unleashed by artificial intelligence and “power that concentrates wealth and drives inequality,” he said The UN Chief said geopolitical divides have deepened, inequalities have intensified and trust has frayed. “The climate crisis went from distant warning to daily reality. And artificial intelligence (AI) moved at a speed that has blindsided even those who created it,” he noted. He said that on January 1, when he is no longer Secretary-General, he will keep championing the conviction that peace is possible and that human dignity is universal. Guterres’ speech opened the main portion of the world's biggest diplomatic meeting of the year. Leaders from the UN's 193 member countries address each other and the international community and air their hopes, plans and grievances. AI is a major theme at this year's UN General Assembly. Ahead of the week of meetings and speeches in New York, leaders of more than 20 countries urged binding safety measures for advanced artificial intelligence, warning that the technology's development could outpace the ability to control it. China and the United States were not signatories. Trump has come out strongly against AI safety measures, vowing on Saturday not to allow the “destruction” of the AI industry over what he calls unjustified fears. China's President Xi Jinping in July said AI should not be dominated by a single country and urged international cooperation on its development.
