OpenAI CEO Sam Altman warned the U.N. Security Council that the world could lose control of AI’s future if governments do not move quickly on international standards and oversight. He spoke Sept. 23 in New York during an emergency session on artificial intelligence held alongside the 81st U.N. General Assembly.
Altman said the current moment “calls for extreme care,” arguing that as AI systems become more capable and autonomous, they could outpace institutions or concentrate power in too few hands. He appeared at the meeting with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, a rival in the fast-growing AI industry, and both urged global cooperation to manage the risks.
Altman proposed four broad steps: setting international standards to measure AI capabilities and assess risks, creating faster and more accurate failure reporting, improving information sharing among governments, and preserving meaningful human oversight of powerful systems. He said AI policy should not be left to a small number of companies or countries alone.
The meeting was convened by France in connection with the U.N. General Assembly. Altman’s message was blunt: the AI industry and governments need to act together now, or humanity could lose control of the technology’s long-term direction.
