Tech leaders to UN: for the sake of humanity, please control the AI technology we created

South China Morning Post - Sep 23, 2026

The heads of major artificial intelligence firms pleaded with the United Nations on Wednesday to save the world or at least its people – by somehow regulating the fast-expanding technology that they have been designing. “If managed poorly, I even believe AI could be a risk to humanity as a whole,” said Dario Amodei, chief executive officer of Anthropic. And from his competitor Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, came this assessment: “We could lose control of the future to AI.” Both said the countries of...

Read full article

More News

Sep 24, 2026

AI leaders warn UN of security risks as systems grow more powerful

UNITED NATIONS — Executives from three of the world's leading artificial intelligence companies briefed the UN Security Council on Wednesday amid warnings that increasingly powerful AI systems could soon improve themselves, slip beyond human control and pose a threat to international security. Among those addressing the 15-member council during the annual General Assembly gathering were OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and Hugging Face co-founder Clément Delangue, three of the industry's most prominent executives. "If managed poorly, I even believe that AI could be a risk to humanity as a whole," Anthropic's Amodei told the Security Council. Governments have grappled with how to oversee AI systems that are advancing faster than regulators can keep up while the United States and China — the two dominant players in AI development — remain divided over whether the technology needs global guardrails or should be left largely to market forces. “If AI is to be democratic, the most important decisions cannot be made by labs in San Francisco alone. They must be shaped t

Sep 24, 2026

Xi heads into Trump visit after making China into global force since 2015

WASHINGTON — When Chinese leader Xi Jinping arrived in Washington for a state visit in 2015, he sought to calm the growing unease among the Americans about his country's rapid ascent. Xi largely succeeded, shaking hands with then-President Barack Obama to deepen economic ties and expand cooperation. In the Rose Garden, Obama declared that the U.S. “welcomes the rise of a China that is peaceful, stable, prosperous and a responsible player in global affairs.” Those days are over. Returning to the U.S. capital Wednesday for the first state visit in over a decade, Xi — more confident than ever — is seeking stability even as the globe's two largest economies compete over everything from artificial intelligence to space ambitions and global influence. Xi is expected to urge cooperation with the U.S. for the sake of the world. “In 2015, China was a rising power still, profoundly and quickly rising, but rising undeniably,” said Mira Rapp-Hooper, a visiting fellow at Brookings Institution's Center for Asia Policy Studies. Now, “China is risen.” Both economies have grown remarkabl

Sep 24, 2026

Lee, Trump discussed shipbuilding in brief New York meeting: White House

WASHINGTON — A White House official said Wednesday South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and U.S. President Donald Trump discussed shipbuilding cooperation and other topics during a meeting on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly this week. The official made the remarks in response to Yonhap News Agency's question about the meeting on Tuesday, where Seoul officials said that the leaders discussed key issues, including Seoul's push to acquire nuclear-powered submarines and secure rights to enrich uranium and reprocess spent nuclear fuel for peaceful civil purposes. "President Trump and President Lee had a brief meeting on the sidelines of the Leaders Reception at the United Nations General Assembly, where they discussed shipbuilding cooperation among other topics," the official said in an email. After the 30-minute meeting, a presidential official told reporters that Trump expressed interest in shipbuilding cooperation, as the Trump administration seeks cooperation with South Korea to rebuild the United States Navy and shipbuilding industry. Under last year's bilateral trade deal, So

Sep 24, 2026

Mounting inflation pressures put more Fed rate hikes in view

Mounting inflation pressures and a strengthening economy look to be pushing the Federal Reserve towards an interest-rate hike on the eve of critical national elections, with traders on Wednesday piling into bets on a second straight Fed rate increase in late October. A closely watched measure of U.S. business activity, S&P Global's flash U.S. Composite PMI Output Index, jumped this month to its highest level since July 2021, S&P Global reported on Wednesday. The survey's measure of prices paid by businesses for inputs jumped to a nearly four-year high. Oil prices took a leg up on Wednesday, with Brent crude futures rising about 2 percent to $101.09 a barrel, and diesel fuel prices have surged to over $6.50 a gallon, as the US-Iran war continues to disrupt supply. Diesel has particular potential to broaden price pressures, as it powers the equipment and trucks used to make and move goods throughout the economy. The backdrop of rising inflationary risks and a strong economy means the Fed is likely to deliver more rate hikes, Fed Governor Michael Barr said on Wednesday in what's become a r

Sep 24, 2026

Ukraine sent two captured North Korean soldiers to South Korea, Zelenskyy says

UNITED NATIONS/SEOUL — Ukraine has transferred two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday in an address to the United Nations General Assembly. "Recently, we sent two North Korean prisoners of war to the Republic of Korea," said Zelenskyy in his speech. "These guys are not easy to capture alive. One of them, when he realized he was going to be taken prisoner, tried to kill himself. And he was shocked that fate did not let him die." Zelenskyy did not provide more details about the return. Ukraine captured the two North Koreans in Russia's Kursk region in January last year. They were the first North Korean soldiers to be apprehended alive since the country entered the Russia-Ukraine war in 2024. Zelenskyy said at the time that he would hand them over to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un if he could facilitate their exchange for Ukrainians held captive in Russia. Human rights groups, however, urged him to repatriate them to South Korea citing the risks of punishments the soldiers faced. South Korean media reported that the two c

Sep 24, 2026

Trump welcomes China's Xi Jinping to Washington for state visit

WASHINGTON — Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Washington Wednesday evening, where he received a rare greeting from President Donald Trump, who met his counterpart at the base’s airport instead of waiting for him to drive to the White House. Trump’s decision to greet Xi shows how far the U.S. president is going to honor China’s leader as he made his first state visit to the U.S. capital in more than a decade. Xi says China and the US should be ‘partners, not rivals’ In a statement marking his arrival in the U.S., China’s leader wrote that his country and the U.S. “should be partners, not rivals. Achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and making America great again can go hand in hand and the two countries can contribute to each other’s success, thereby benefiting the wider world.” Xi’s statement also suggested that the two sides “should move toward each other and work together to build a stable relationship – one where cooperation is the mainstay, competition is kept within proper limits, differences are managed and peace can be expected.

Sep 24, 2026

Turkey to hand over military base in northern Iraq to Baghdad

Turkey will gradually hand over control of its Bashiqa military base in northern Iraq to Baghdad, Ankara and Baghdad said Wednesday, in a move aimed at strengthening Iraqi state authority and easing a long-running source of tension between the neighbours.