UN AI Rules Debate Heats Up, Adding a New Variable for AI Stocks

Impact of the Debate Over AI Regulation

Artificial intelligence has emerged as a key agenda item shaping the next international order during the high-level week of the United Nations General Assembly, which opened in New York on Sept. 22. With the U.S. opposing new regulations, Britain, France and voices within the UN are increasingly calling for new international rules.

On Sept. 23, the UN Security Council will hold a meeting on “The Future of AI and International Security.” Scheduled participants include Yoshua Bengio, a University of Montreal professor, prominent AI scholar and co-chair of the UN AI expert panel, along with OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman and Anthropic Chief Executive Officer Dario Amodei.

If the two meetings lend momentum to international AI regulation, AI-related stocks in global equity markets could face another correction after the Chuseok holiday.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham told the UN General Assembly that the world must work together to address AI in step with this era of transformation. He added that AI must be prevented from slipping out of control.

French President Emmanuel Macron proposed a “third way” in which countries other than the U.S. and China would pool computing resources and investment capacity to jointly develop open AI models.

OpenAI and Anthropic have recently introduced internal measures to strengthen safety, including the use of outside monitors during development. Altman and others are also poised to urge the Security Council to devise steps to ease the fierce race over the pace of AI development.

Hwang Jung-soo, New York correspondent hjs@hankyung.com