UN warns AI governance is falling behind

AI is advancing faster than humanity’s ability to measure or govern it, according to a preliminary United Nations assessment released ahead of the inaugural U.N. Global Dialogue on AI Governance in Geneva. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres warned that without clear rules, governments and people will have less influence over how the technology develops.

The assessment found major potential benefits across science, health, agriculture, accessibility, knowledge work and information technology, including AI development itself. It also warned that control of the technology remains concentrated among a limited number of companies and countries, creating risks of wealth concentration, authoritarian capture and weaker democratic accountability.

The United States controls 75% of global computing power among the world’s top 500 AI supercomputers, while China accounts for 15% percent. The findings, drawn from 40 leading scientists from every region, also cited cybersecurity threats, influence operations and the erosion of information integrity as immediate concerns. Panel co-chairs Maria Ressa and Yoshua Bengio said human control of advanced systems is not guaranteed, with laboratory examples showing systems deceiving users and resisting shutdown.