From Sept. 22-27, heads of state and government convened in New York City for the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA79) high-level week. The session kicked off with the highly-anticipated Summit of the Future, culminating in the adoption of the Pact for the Future — a non-binding agreement that puts forth 56 “actions” for states to chart a “new beginning” in multilateral cooperation and effectively respond to emerging issues. Following the Summit, leaders participated in the General Debate, with member states giving speeches on their countries’ priorities and perspectives.
As anticipated, the ongoing wars in Gaza, Ukraine, and Sudan, along with humanitarian emergencies, the climate crisis, and sustainable development, dominated discussions during high-level week. However, artificial intelligence (AI) also emerged as a key topic at the Summit of the Future and during the General Debate. Leaders highlighted the importance of global AI governance—addressing existential threats, bridging digital divides, and ensuring the technology’s development and use align with an international framework—underscoring the growing significance of AI on the international stage.
Artificial Intelligence at the Summit of the Future
The Pact for the Future features multiple provisions addressing the proliferation of AI. Action 27 in particular tackles the risks and opportunities of “rapid technological change,” including the rise of AI-enabled technologies. Article 48 of Action 27 states that the Group of Governmental Experts on Emerging Technologies in the Area of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems will work to develop an instrument and “other possible measures” to address the threats of lethal autonomous weapons systems to international humanitarian law. The article also affirms that the United Nations will continue assessing the prospective risks of AI applications in the military domain, as well as request the Secretary-General to continue updating states on emerging technologies and their impacts on international security.
Annexed to the Pact is the Global Digital Compact, an agreement aiming to “close the digital divides” between states and force a path to technological development that “leave[s] no one behind.” The advancement of a “responsible, accountable, transparent and human-centric” approach to emerging technologies is among the Compact’s 13 guiding principles. AI is addressed across several spaces, including digital public infrastructure, information integrity, and data privacy. Article 17(a) of the Pact commits states to the development and dissemination of open-source software, including open AI models, that “benefit society as a whole.” The Pact also expresses concern regarding emerging technologies, manipulated information, and the protection of human rights on the Internet. In Article 36(c), states specifically call upon tech companies to develop solutions to the potential harms of AI-enabled online content, such as hate speech and discrimination. The article advises that these solutions include implementing safeguards into training AI models, as well as labeling and watermarking AI-generated content. Article 37 goes on to recognize that AI systems may “amplify risks” concerning privacy rights through increased data collection, sharing and processing, and in Article 39, states pledge to ensure that such data practices are compliant with international law.
Notably, the Compact features multiple provisions concerning AI governance. The Compact names the enhancement of international AI governance “for the benefit of humanity” as one of its five key objectives. This objective comprises of 14 articles addressing sustainability, representation, and capacity-building within AI governance, including by:
- Committing states to advance “equitable and inclusive” approaches to AI and mitigating its risks in compliance with international law (Article 52);
- Ensuring that AI applications support diversity and community development by aiding developing countries in building AI capacities, as well as confronting the potential environmental and labor harms of AI (Article 53);
- Advancing AI governance by assessing the “future directions and implications” of AI, sharing best practices and expanding access to AI-enabled technologies, and promoting “transparency, accountability, and robust human oversight” of AI systems; (Article 55);
- Committing states to the establishment of a U.N. Independent International Scientific Panel on AI, which would address the scientific understanding of AI through impact, risk and opportunity assessments, as well as the development of a Global Dialogue on AI Governance, to occur within the context of existing U.N. conferences and meetings (Article 56);
- Urging that the U.N. General Assembly President appoint at the General Assembly co-facilitators — one from a developed country and the other from a developing country — to identify “the terms of references and modalities for the establishment and functioning” of the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI and the Global Dialogue on AI Governance (Article 57); and
- Requesting that the Secretary-General develops “innovative voluntary financing options” to scale up AI capacity-building, to be submitted for consideration at the General Assembly’s 79th session (Article 63).
States also addressed AI governance challenges in the Summit’s “interactive dialogues” — side events that aimed to facilitate conversations pertaining to the Pact. Multiple speakers underscored the risks and opportunities of emerging technologies during the third dialogue, devoted to strengthening digital cooperation and driving sustainable and inclusive development. Participants specifically emphasized the importance of harnessing AI in a matter that propels a “fair and equal” and “collective” digital future, particularly for middle and low-income nations. Speakers also highlighted their countries’ efforts to regulate AI in accordance with international law. Secretary-General Alain Berset, for example, urged a multilateral approach towards emerging technologies and invited states to sign the Council of Europe Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence, Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law — the first legally-binding global treaty on AI.
Artificial Intelligence at the General Debate
Alongside other issues, heads of state and government dedicated portions of their speeches to AI throughout the U.N. General Debate. Speakers specifically focused on the existential threats of AI, mitigating inequalities in AI use and development, and the role of human rights and international governance in guiding the future of AI.
Existential Threats of Artificial Intelligence
In his opening remarks before the General Debate, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres described today’s “uncertainty” as being “compounded by two existential threats — the climate crisis and the rapid advance of technology, in particular, artificial intelligence.” Guterres stressed that AI will alter “virtually everything we know — from work, education and communication, to culture or politics.” U.S. President Joe Biden echoed Guterres’ concerns in his final address before the United Nations, emphasizing that while AI could usher in unprecedented scientific progress, it also carries “profound risks.” Similarly, Chilean President Gabriel Boric Font warned of AI’s dangers and called upon the General Assembly to “remember” Isaac Asimov’s first law of robotics: that “a robot cannot harm humanity, or by inaction allow humanity to suffer harm.”
Leaders specifically emphasized AI’s threats to democratic stability. Peruvian Minister of Foreign Affairs Elmer Schialer Salcedo, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and Biden stressed that AI can undermine public trust, weaken election integrity, and work in the favor of “malign actors” by rapidly creating and disseminating mis- and disinformation. AI could become a “weapon of control in an uncertain world order,” said Mitsotakis. Biden’s statement in particular captured the gravity of the moment, warning that there “may well be no greater test of our leadership than how we deal with AI.”
Addressing Inequalities in Artificial Intelligence
Beyond existential threats, speakers also highlighted the importance of closing digital divides in AI use and development between developed and developing states. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva remarked that the international community is currently experiencing a “consolidation of asymmetries that leads to a true oligopoly of knowledge” and criticized the “unprecedented concentration” of power by AI companies primarily based in the Global North. Speaking on behalf of the Global South, Lula then called for “emancipatory” AI that reflects the needs and diversity of developing countries. Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera reiterated Lula’s sentiments and voiced his concern that the current AI landscape “empower[s] some nations and give[s] them unfair advantages over others.”
Leaders of developing states expressed hope towards the Global Digital Compact and its intention to ensure inclusive AI development. Vice President of Côte d’Ivoire Tiemoko Meyliet Koné and President of Sierra Leone both welcomed the Compact’s adoption, considering it a vital step forward in ensuring that AI “serves the progress and well-being of all.”
International Governance, Human Rights & Artificial Intelligence
Throughout the General Debate, leaders recognized a critical gap in global AI governance. Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis noted that, unlike with climate change and the annual Conference of the Parties (COPs), the international community currently lacks a framework to effectively regulate AI, harness its positive potential, and address challenges. Vietnamese General-Secretary Tô Lâm, Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, and Mauritian President Prithvirajsing Roopun advocated for a rules-based approach to AI governance, anchored in international law and collaboration. Such a framework would “promote progress” and ensure “healthy” competition in advancing AI technology, according to European Council President Charles Michel. Many of the speeches similarly underlined the role of human rights in guiding the future of emerging technologies like AI. Specifically, leaders urged that AI use and development be “conceived through a human-centered lens” align with the “dignity, freedom and rights of all people,” and work for the “benefit of all humanity.”
Beyond addressing such challenges, speakers encouraged the global community to seize the possibilities of AI. The technology’s prospects offer “unique opportunities to transform the way we live, govern, and cooperate,” concluded Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. “What happens next depends to a high degree on international cooperation.”