UN chief warns AI race could trigger ‘gigantic disaster’ as Trump rejects tighter controls

UN secretary general Antonio Guterres has warned that the rapid advance of artificial intelligence cannot be allowed to outpace safeguards, calling for stronger international oversight.The warning comes as US president Donald Trump argues that the United States already has sufficient protections in place and has dismissed calls from technology executives for tighter controls on AI.Speaking ahead of next week’s UN General Assembly in New York, Guterres said governments had a responsibility to address concerns raised by those developing the technology.“We cannot afford to ignore concerns that have been raised, especially by those on the front lines of the development of AI,” Guterres said. “It’s the first responsibility of any government to protect its citizens – including from the threats of artificial intelligence.”Guterres said countries leading the development of frontier AI should establish “mechanisms of contact, of exchange of information and some common guardrails” to prevent what he called a “race to the bottom”.He warned that such a race “could lead one day to a gigantic disaster at the global level”.The UN Security Council may also discuss AI next week during the annual gathering of world leaders, diplomats said. The 15-member council first held a meeting on artificial intelligence in 2023.The warning comes days after Trump rejected calls from technology executives for tighter oversight and a slower pace of AI development. On Monday, Trump said the US already had the regulatory and criminal powers needed to deal with AI companies.“The only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. He also described concerns over AI and data centres as a “SICK conspiracy”.The dispute follows warnings from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who has called for independent audits of the most advanced “frontier” AI models. His proposal received backing from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Elon Musk of xAI.Public concern has also intensified after Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon said he resigned partly because “people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade”.Guterres said the priority should be a shared framework for the technology. “We need a shared understanding of how to advance the safe, secure and responsible development of AI,” he said, while identifying when increasingly powerful systems may require “stronger safeguards” or additional measures.Additionally, Guterres called for accountability for countries supplying weapons to Sudan’s warring parties when those arms are used against civilians.Describing the humanitarian crisis as “devastating” and the suffering as “intolerable”, Guterres said the conflict is being fuelled by external actors. Sudan’s war, which began in April 2023, has displaced more than 14 million people.Catch the latest World News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.