AI risks, Iran war dominate agenda at UN

The upcoming United Nations gathering of world leaders on Wednesday will focus heavily on the risks associated with artificial intelligence and the ongoing conflict between the US and Iran, which has had far-reaching economic implications. Technology industry leaders, including Sam Altman of OpenAI, Dario Amodei of Anthropic, and Clement Delangue of Hugging Face, are scheduled to brief the UN Security Council, highlighting growing concerns over the rapid advancement of AI and recent security breaches.

The cyberattack on Hugging Face, an AI model repository, marked the first of several incidents raising alarm about the technology's potential dangers.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian made his first appearance before the United Nations since the US and Israel initiated attacks on his country in late February, igniting a regional war. The conflict has since escalated, with Iran retaliating by blocking the strategic Strait of Hormuz, disrupting global oil prices. The recent takeover of Yemen's Red Sea coast by Houthis has further exacerbated fears over global trade and shipping routes through the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

During his speech, US President Donald Trump voiced the possibility of annihilating Iran and driving it into chaos, while also mentioning ongoing negotiations between the two nations. Earlier that day, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with US envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner to discuss Tehran's demands, which included lifting the US naval blockade, releasing Iranian assets frozen in international banks, and ceasing hostilities. Protesters gathered outside the UN to condemn Iran's use of the death penalty.

Meanwhile, Russia's war against Ukraine continued to dominate diplomatic discussions, with a Security Council meeting on Ukraine set for 11 am (1500 GMT). Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who met with Trump the previous day, emphasized the need for an end to the Russian aggression before winter. Zelenskyy proposed halting strikes on Russian energy sites in exchange for Moscow agreeing to a similar pause.

US President Trump, however, dismissed the idea of international regulation of AI, referring to such proposals as a "globalist scheme." In contrast, French President Emmanuel Macron advocated for the development of an open-source AI model that is not reliant on either the United States or China, emphasizing the importance of collaborative efforts in building cutting-edge technology.