OpenAI's Sam Altman to brief UNSC as AI safety concerns grow

WASHINGTON: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman will brief the United Nations Security Council next week during the annual gathering of world leaders for the UN General Assembly, the company said Friday.

The meeting is being organised by France, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the 15-member Security Council, and comes as major players in the industry have said a slowdown in AI development could be necessary out of safety concerns.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday called for coordinated international action to address AI risks as fears rise about the dangers of the fast-evolving technology.

"National action is essential. But global coordination is also indispensable," Guterres told reporters.

Concerns about AI safety have escalated in recent weeks, with workers at major AI developers resigning over concerns about the dangers posed by the technology.

Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei published an essay soon after urging caution.

"We must slow the pace at which we improve the capabilities of AI models," he wrote.

Altman and tech titan Elon Musk lent their support to the idea, as did Google DeepMind's Demis Hassabis, who himself has called for a US-led global regulatory body for the technology.

President Donald Trump has dismissed warnings against AI risks as a "hoax" and pushed back against calls for tighter oversight.--AFP