AI leaders split over calls to slow development ahead of UN Security Council session

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman will brief the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday during the UN General Assembly in New York, as a widening rift among AI industry leaders over the pace of development spills onto the global stage.reuters+1

The session, convened by France under its rotating presidency and chaired by French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, comes weeks after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published an essay titled "We Must Pace the Frontier" that has reshaped the debate over AI safety. Altman's remarks are expected to focus on international coordination and shared safety standards, an OpenAI spokesperson told Reuters.finance.yahoo+3

A Three-Step Plan to Slow AI

Amodei's September 12 essay argued that AI progress had accelerated "drastically faster" since summer 2026, driven by AI's growing ability to build the next generation of AI systems. He proposed a three-step plan: embedding independent third-party evaluators inside every frontier lab, coordinating safety standards among AI companies in democratic nations, and eventually establishing global coordination including China.bnnbloomberg+2

Altman endorsed the proposal on X, writing, "I agree with Dario that we need to pace the frontier," and committed OpenAI to granting independent evaluators employee-like access and publishing reports on unexpected AI behavior. Elon Musk also backed Amodei, posting simply, "Dario is right".reuters+1

But the consensus is far from universal. Meta ↗ 1.02% CEO Mark Zuckerberg argued that competition and liability give companies enough incentive to act individually on safety. Nvidia ↘ 1.47% CEO Jensen Huang dismissed the need for new regulations, telling CBS News there was "0% chance" that 2030 would bring doomsday and urging the industry to apply existing liability laws.bnnbloomberg

Global Pressure Mounts

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has framed AI as one of "three existential threats" facing the world, alongside the climate crisis and deepening inequalities. "The world cannot afford a race to the bottom on AI safety," he said last week, calling global cooperation "indispensable" and warning that voluntary pauses limited to a few countries would not work.news.un+2

Britain's King Charles last week hosted executives from Nvidia, Google DeepMind Alphabet Inc. ↘ 3.58%, OpenAI and Anthropic at Dumfries House in Scotland, warning of "existential dangers" from AI falling into the wrong hands. The European Commission backed calls for a pause, with President Ursula von der Leyen saying she would invite frontier labs to discuss risk.reuters+2

Not all governments share the alarm. President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that AI needs only "a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT" and warned that doubt about AI development would benefit China. China's state-backed Global Times accused Amodei of trying to "curb China's AI development through technological barriers and regulatory monopolies".bnnbloomberg

Wednesday's Security Council meeting — the body's second dedicated session on AI risks since 2023 — will test whether the growing chorus for caution can translate into anything beyond rhetoric.tbsnews+1