Sam Altman to brief UN Security Council on AI and global security

OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman will brief the United Nations Security Council next week, an OpenAI spokesperson said, as world leaders gather in New York for the annual UN General Assembly.

The 15-member council is scheduled to meet on Wednesday for a session on artificial intelligence and international security. Altman is expected to attend in person and address the open meeting.

According to the spokesperson, his remarks will centre on the measures OpenAI is taking to ensure AI is developed safely and benefits people worldwide, as well as the case for international coordination and common safety standards.

The timing places the discussion amid growing concern over the pace of AI development. Weeks before the session, several industry leaders called for a coordinated slowdown in work on increasingly capable systems, warning that the technology could soon improve on its own and move beyond human control.

Altman has raised concerns about the risks of advanced AI for years, well before the current boom. In a 2015 essay, he described the development of superhuman machine intelligence as probably the greatest threat to humanity's continued existence.

The Security Council first took up the risks of artificial intelligence in 2023. At that meeting, China said the technology should not become a "runaway horse", while the United States cautioned against its use to censor or repress people.

The council is tasked with maintaining international peace and security, and its agenda has increasingly touched on emerging technologies whose effects cross borders.