UN Secretary-General Guterres calls on US and China to hold AI dialogue — Asharq Al-Awsat

UN Secretary-General António Guterres, in New York, United States, called on the United States and China to launch a dialogue on the future of artificial intelligence. He made the statement during the general debate of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly.

As Asharq Al-Awsat reports, Guterres stressed that governments with the greatest capabilities in AI bear the greatest responsibility to humanity, including for creating channels for dialogue, transparency, trust and cooperation. He compared the current moment to the Cold War period, when strategic rivals recognized the need to manage shared existential risks.

Contacts between Washington and Beijing

According to the publication, the United States and China are discussing the creation of a communication channel for issues related to artificial intelligence. These contacts are taking place ahead of a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping scheduled for Thursday in Washington.

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The talks are being held amid growing concerns about the risks posed by increasingly powerful AI systems, as well as the technological rivalry between the two states.

Warning against a split in the world

In his speech, Guterres also urged world leaders to prevent a “great rupture” — a division of the world into two rival blocs with separate economic, technological and security systems. According to him, the future will depend on how the world responds to four challenges: war and peace, the climate crisis, the development of artificial intelligence, and the concentration of wealth that deepens inequality.

AI has become one of the central topics of the current UN General Assembly. Ahead of meetings in New York, leaders of more than 20 countries called for mandatory safety measures for advanced artificial intelligence systems. The United States and China did not sign the appeal. Trump has opposed additional safety measures for the industry, while Xi Jinping said in July that AI should not be under the control of one country and called for international cooperation.