U.S. Dominance, Third Way, or Safety Guards: AI Hegemony Competes at the UN

As the high-level general debate of the 81st United Nations General Assembly—where world leaders gather to discuss key international issues—opened on the 22nd (local time) at the UN Headquarters in New York, artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a core agenda item shaping the next-generation international order.

Differing national interests over who will lead the technologies and rules of the AI era were prominently expressed on the UN stage.

During his general debate speech, U.S. President Donald Trump made it clear that he opposes international regulations that suppress AI development and that he will protect U.S. technological leadership.

"The United States completely rejects any attempt to control AI," he said, adding, "I will not suppress the growth of a technology that will be greater than the industrial revolution."

He also stated his position that existing legal systems should be utilized if AI causes risks.

President Trump said, "We will closely monitor this through the Department of Justice."

Reiterating his stance that recent warnings about AI posing an existential threat to humanity are exaggerated, President Trump also declared that the U.S. government will use the term "super intelligence" instead of AI in future government documents.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is fiercely competing with the United States for AI supremacy, did not attend this UN General Assembly, and China is instead represented by Vice President Han Zheng.

In contrast, French President Emmanuel Macron proposed a "third way" in which other countries pool their computing resources and investment capabilities to jointly develop open-source AI models, aiming to avoid technological dependency on the two AI superpowers, the United States and China.

"We do not want anyone to become a vassal of the superpowers," he said. "We must work together to build open-source frontier models, cutting-edge models."

Agence France-Presse (AFP) interpreted "superpowers" as referring to the United States and China.

This is interpreted as a vision for Europe and other middle-power countries to jointly build technological resources and establish an independent AI ecosystem, amid a race for dominance centered on advanced AI models, semiconductors, and computing infrastructure between the U.S. and China.


UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, whose term ends at the end of this year, compared the AI hegemony race to the nuclear weapons risks of the Cold War era and urged the establishment of international safety guards.

"During the Cold War, rival nations recognized the need to manage shared existential risks," he emphasized, noting that while that applied to nuclear weapons back then, "today, AI demands the exact same sense of purpose and urgency."

Addressing powerful nations leading the AI sector, notably the United States and China, he said, "Governments with the most powerful AI capacities bear the greatest responsibility to humanity," and called for the establishment of channels for dialogue, transparency, trust, and cooperation.

Going beyond this, he proposed the creation of a "multilateral AI risk management framework" equipped with an independent oversight system, and clearly expressed opposition to so-called "killer robots"—where AI independently selects and attacks targets—stating, "The decision to determine life and death must never be handed over to machines."
 
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.