Killer robots or super intelligence? Trump and world leaders clash over AI

US President Donald Trump and UN Secretary-General António Guterres had differing perspectives on how to manage artificial intelligence at the UN on Tuesday. Guterres, armed with a new UN science report warning of potential catastrophic and irreversible harm, called for greater oversight of AI and warned against killer robots having a place in the future.

However, Trump rejected the idea of a globalist scheme to control artificial intelligence, referring to it as super intelligence instead. Both leaders reduced the issue to something that was not useful, according to University of Chicago computer science department chairman Henry Hoffmann. Hoffmann stated that both Trump and Guterres pushed people to pick a side rather than engaging with the real risks and possible mitigations.

Other nations wanted to ensure they were not left behind in the AI race between the US and China, with French President Emmanuel Macron and Guterres emphasizing the need to protect children and young people. Finnish President Alexander Stubb noted that AI would change the world, potentially for good, but required strong controls.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham advocated for a single set of global principles and standards to unlock AI's potential while mitigating its risks, with a focus on "AI for good" during the UK's G20 presidency. During the UN Security Council's AI meeting, experts and alarmists spoke about the need for guardrails, including Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, and Clément Delangue, CEO and co-founder of Hugging Face.