AI, ongoing conflicts, and governments’ responsibilities online have been key topics at this year’s UN General Assembly (UNGA) General Debate in New York.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese launched Australia’s bid for a seat on the UN Security Council and signed a joint statement calling for global guardrails on AI.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump pushed back against the call for international AI controls in his address to the UNGA.
Albanese said Trump’s position did not undermine his own tech agenda “at all”.
Here’s a recap of the last few days.
Background
Each year, the UNGA holds its General Debate, where leaders and representatives from the UN’s 193 member states deliver speeches and hold meetings throughout the week.
This year, nearly 130 heads of state and government are expected to speak.
Leaders are given a voluntary 15-minute limit for their speeches, although many run over.
Last year, Anthony Albanese spoke at the UNGA for the first time, addressing climate change and global conflicts.
Australia
On Monday, Albanese launched Australia’s bid to serve as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2029–30 two-year term.
Australia last held a seat on the council in 2013–14.
There are two seats available for the regional group Australia falls into (Western European and Others), with Finland currently the only other member state to announce a bid.
Nationals Leader Matt Canavan criticised the bid, saying the Prime Minister “should be prioritising the cost of living here at home, not spending time to get a seat on some international board overseas”.
Albanese was one of 22 signatories, from countries including Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and EU members, to issue a warning about “frontier AI models”.
They said the most advanced AI “poses serious risks to safety and security if not appropriately managed”.
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The statement calls for:
- Transparent safety protocols.
- Common standards and shared reporting of “serious safety incidents”.
- UN member states to explore creating an international institution that could set standards, verify compliance and convene states when AI capability thresholds are crossed.
U.S. response
In Trump’s speech, he said the U.S. “totally rejects any attempt to construct a globalist scheme” to control AI, rejecting the proposed international body to oversee the technology.
Trump also said U.S. Government documents would now use “super intelligence” instead of “artificial intelligence”, arguing that “artificial” “makes it sound fake”.
The U.S. also warned Australia its draft Digital Duty of Care law, which would make tech companies responsible for protecting users from online harms, could become “a mechanism for viewpoint-based censorship”.
In response, Albanese said: “It’s not about government control, it’s about giving people back control over what they receive on their devices”.
Separately, Trump signed a security agreement with Greenland and Denmark allowing the U.S. to establish two new military bases in the self-governing Danish territory.
Greenland’s future has been a key topic since Trump began his second term.
Trump also addressed the conflict with Iran in his speech, rhetorically asking whether he should make a deal or “annihilate the Islamic Republic”.
What’s next?
Albanese will address the General Assembly later this week.
Meanwhile, Trump will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House on Thursday.
It is Xi’s first state visit to the U.S. since 2015.
Addressing the visit, Albanese said: “We’ll wait and see what comes out of the meeting between President Trump and President Xi.”
