OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, has called on the United States to lead the creation of technical and safety standards for next-generation artificial intelligence, proposing that 10 countries including South Korea join the effort. On the same day, about 20 countries led by Finland and Norway adopted a declaration calling for a global oversight framework for AI. The United States and China, the two countries driving the race for AI supremacy, did not take part.
In a post titled "Building standards for AI's next phase" published on its website on the 21st, OpenAI said it believes the United States should lead efforts to develop technical standards for frontier AI in cooperation with countries around the world. Whether Washington seizes the initiative now, the company said, will determine whether the United States leads the global AI order or watches from the sidelines as a fragmented, unbalanced and conflict-ridden system takes hold.
OpenAI said the United States is well positioned to take the lead because its AI industry sits at the technological frontier and the country holds advantages in core areas including finance, trade, defense, technology and intelligence. "Geopolitical competition will not simply be a matter of who is technologically ahead, but will also be a competition over the adoption and diffusion of AI," the company said, adding that areas tied to AI adoption and diffusion in particular will be determined by who leads on cooperation and sensible rules.
The company proposed that countries develop common measures to evaluate self-improving AI systems that may emerge in the future and build secure channels for sharing newly identified threats.
As one path toward such international AI standards, OpenAI suggested drawing on a network of AI safety institutes already established in individual countries, citing South Korea as one of 10 examples of countries that have built such bodies. The United States operates the Center for AI Standards and Innovation, while Britain, France and Singapore also have AI safety institutes.
Altman to brief U.N. Security Council on the 23rd; Trump vows to stay ahead of China
Noting the scheduled summit between the United States and China, OpenAI said dialogue between the two countries in this field would be a positive development and that the planned meeting comes at a timely moment. Sam Altman, OpenAI's chief executive, is scheduled to attend a U.N. Security Council meeting in person on the 23rd to deliver a briefing on AI and international security.
On the debate over slowing the pace of AI development, which has become a focal point in the industry, OpenAI said that regulating the speed of AI development does not mean setting a pace in advance and holding to it. Rather, the company said, the aim is to ensure that alignment research and its deployment stay ahead of AI capabilities.
Appearing to address concentrated concerns about recursive self-improvement, or RSI, in which AI designs AI on its own, the company said fully autonomous RSI is not currently being realized and should not be pursued until it can be implemented safely.
While major AI companies including OpenAI and Anthropic have argued for moderating the pace of development, the administration of President Donald Trump has expressed opposition. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the best way to ensure safety is to hold developers legally responsible for what they build and generate.
Trump also wrote on Truth Social on the 21st that the winner in AI takes everything, saying the United States is currently ahead of China and every other country and that he intends to keep it that way. He said he would not suppress the growth of something that will become bigger than the Industrial Revolution or the internet itself, adding that the courts and other law enforcement agencies could bring the situation under control if necessary.
"Keep AI under human control": U.S. and China absent from Finland-led statement
The United States and China did not sign the declaration on human control of AI backed by about 20 countries under the leadership of Finland and Norway, Politico reported the same day. The declaration was prepared on the occasion of the high-level session of the 81st U.N. General Assembly in New York.
Signatories include the leaders of roughly 20 countries — among them Finland, Norway, Germany, Canada, Australia, Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Africa and Kenya — as well as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
The declaration acknowledged that AI has the potential to improve lives, advance science and strengthen economies, while warning that the rapid advance of frontier AI models poses serious risks to safety and security if not properly managed.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb said in an interview with Politico that he believes both China and the United States would benefit from having safeguards in some form, and that the message is that human involvement is needed and humans must hold the initiative.
