The future of artificial intelligence, the conflict between the United States and Iran, and the resulting impact on the global economy are expected to dominate discussions as world leaders gather at the United Nations on Wednesday.
The UN Security Council is set to hold an emergency meeting on artificial intelligence, with OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and Hugging Face co-founder Clement Delangue scheduled to brief the 15-member council.
The meeting comes amid growing concerns over the rapid development of AI and calls for stronger safeguards against potential risks associated with increasingly autonomous systems.
Attention will also turn to the Middle East, with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian expected to address the UN General Assembly for the first time since the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran in late February.
The conflict has disrupted energy markets after Tehran blocked the Strait of Hormuz, a major route for global oil shipments, contributing to a surge in international crude prices.
Concerns over global trade have also increased following the Houthi takeover of Yemen’s Red Sea coast, raising fresh fears about shipping through the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
Pezeshkian’s address comes a day after US President Donald Trump issued strong warnings against Iran while also disclosing that discussions between Washington and Tehran had resumed.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reportedly met with US envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
According to Iranian state media, Tehran is demanding an end to the US naval blockade, the release of frozen Iranian assets and an end to the conflict.
The war in Ukraine is also expected to feature prominently at the UN, with the Security Council scheduled to discuss the conflict and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky set to address the General Assembly.
Zelensky said after meeting Trump that Washington and Kyiv want the war with Russia to end before winter. He also expressed willingness to halt attacks on Russian energy infrastructure if Moscow takes a similar step.
Meanwhile, divisions over the future of artificial intelligence are emerging among world leaders.
Trump criticised proposals for international regulation of AI, while French President Emmanuel Macron called for an open-source frontier AI model that would reduce dependence on the United States and China.
The competing positions are expected to add another dimension to discussions at the UN, as governments weigh the economic opportunities, security implications and geopolitical consequences of rapidly advancing artificial intelligence.
