World pursues AI safety rules without US backing at UN
Trump rejects global AI governance while 22 nations seek unified oversight, leaving major powers and companies outside the framework.
What to know
- Twenty-two countries pushed for a global AI safety regime at the UN, but the US and China—home to the world's leading AI labs—refused to join.
- Trump explicitly rejected global AI governance as a "globalist scheme of control," while China signaled conditional openness to a consensus framework.
- Experts warn the framework has little teeth without the major AI powers and companies (OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepSeek) participating.
- A majority of adults in the US, Canada and Europe support pausing AI development over safety fears, but government policy lags behind public concern.
“If the U.S. is not participating — where the U.S. has a lot of the labs — and also is not focusing on this as a policy matter, it limits their effectiveness.”
Christopher Painter, Former State Department cybersecurity coordinator · Politico Europe ↗ · Sep 23
Donald Trump US President
Sam Altman OpenAI CEO
Dario Amodei Anthropic CEOFu Cong Chinese UN representative
António Guterres UN Secretary-General
How it unfolded 0 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump
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Experts warn US absence undermines global AI governance — Former State Department officials and cybersecurity experts argue that without US participation—where most major AI labs are headquartered—global frameworks cannot be effective. Christopher Painter noted that US non-participation "limits their effectiveness," while James Lewis said "the people who make 90% of AI don't want to play."
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China signals openness to AI governance framework at Security Council — Fu Cong, Beijing's permanent representative to the UN, stated that China supports formation of "a consensus-based global governance framework at an early date so as to build institutional guardrails that preserve international peace and security."
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OpenAI and Anthropic CEOs call for international AI cooperation at UN Security Council — Sam Altman of OpenAI and Dario Amodei of Anthropic spoke before the UN Security Council, expressing urgency about AI security. Altman called for countries to "come together for shared interests and collective good in the face of a powerful new technology," while Amodei warned that poorly managed AI could pose a risk to humanity.
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Trump rejects global AI control at UN General Assembly — President Donald Trump told the UN General Assembly that he rejects any "globalist scheme of control" on AI, positioning the US against the international governance push.
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Finland and Norway lead 22 countries to adopt AI safety declaration — Twenty-two countries adopted a declaration pushing for establishment of a global supervisory regime focused on AI safety and security, declaring that AI "must remain under human direction, oversight and control." The US and China notably did not sign on.