The leaders of two of the world’s most powerful artificial intelligence (AI) companies set aside their fierce rivalry on Wednesday, 23 September 2026, to deliver a stark warning to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC): the technology they are building needs global oversight, or humanity risks losing control of its own future.
OpenAI Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei spoke separately to the 15-member council during a session on AI and international security, held on the margins of the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
Despite their companies’ competitive tensions, their message was strikingly aligned.
Amodei, who addressed the council via video call, did not mince words about the stakes.
“If managed poorly, I even believe that AI could be a risk to humanity as a whole,” he said. “For all the differences of the people in this room, we must put aside those differences in order to confront this global opportunity and global threat that is being presented to us at the same time.“
Altman, speaking in person at the Security Council’s horseshoe-shaped table, framed the moment as a historic choice.
“We have a choice in front of us,” he said. “AI can either be more like a new renaissance of creativity and discovery, or more like a new industrial revolution of upheaval and disarray.“
He warned: “We could lose control of the future to AI.“
Concrete Proposals for Global Governance
Both executives arrived with specific ideas, not just warnings.
Altman’s proposals:
- International standards for “measuring capabilities, assessing risks, determining whether safeguards are sufficient and preserving meaningful human oversight.”
- Accurate and rapid reporting mechanisms so the “world can learn from failures before they become catastrophes“
- Secure channels for governments to share information on emerging threats.
- Decisions made by democratic institutions “accountable to the people they serve.”
Amodei’s proposals:
- A global ban on using AI to develop biological weapons.
- Evaluation and verification systems allowing countries to verify each other’s commitments.
- Common global standards for testing AI models.
- A notification system for AI security incidents.
Amodei described the issue as “the most important global security issue facing the world today.“
A Critical Juncture
The session came after weeks of escalating public alarm over AI safety. Earlier in September, Anthropic researchers published warnings that the technology could destroy humanity within the decade.
Reports also emerged of AI agents “going rogue“, in some cases hacking into other companies’ systems.
“In our history, there have been times where countries who compete and don’t always like each other very much still come together for shared interests and the collective good in the face of a powerful new technology,” Altman said. “We believe this must be one of those times.“
The appeals did not receive unanimous support.
A United States (US) government representative reiterated President Donald Trump’s position, stating that Washington rejects any attempt to construct a “globalist scheme of control of superintelligence.“
A Chinese representative expressed opposition to what he described as “a certain country’s ring-fencing of technology,” a remark viewed as an attempt to keep the US in check.
Yoshua Bengio, co-chair of the UN International Independent Panel on AI, challenged the industry’s framing of AI development as an unavoidable race.
“Citizens and governments should not accept the companies’ claim that they are trapped in a race,” he said. “The race is not a law of nature; it is the product of choices, choices made by the companies themselves.“
A Contradiction in Altman’s Message
Altman’s call for governments to shape AI’s future sits uneasily alongside his company’s political activities.
The pro-AI Leading the Future Political Action Committee (PAC) , affiliated with OpenAI President Greg Brockman, has accrued more than $100 million and spent millions targeting candidates who support stronger AI regulation.
The UNSC has no immediate mechanism to enforce global AI standards, and the deep divisions between the US, China, and other member states make rapid agreement unlikely.
But the session marked a significant moment: the architects of the most powerful AI systems on Earth standing before the world’s foremost security body and asking to be governed.
Whether that request produces action — or merely more warnings — remains to be seen.
