IS Ai not included in the Summit Agenda?

The previous answer covered this in detail, but here is what is shaping the conversation right now.

António Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, has described runaway AI as one of three existential threats facing the world, alongside the climate crisis and deepening inequality. He dedicated nearly half his pre-session remarks to AI, acknowledging its "enormous potential" on health, education and climate, while stressing that the world "cannot afford to ignore concerns" that development is outpacing human understanding of the risks.

With fears mounting of an AI arms race between the US and China, Guterres acknowledged "geopolitical divides" and warned that voluntary pauses on AI development will not work if they are limited to only a few countries.

There is an institutional dimension too. The 15-member UN Security Council is expected to hold high-level meetings on AI during the gathering. And the General Assembly has already moved beyond speeches: it appointed 40 members to the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence, with the vote recorded at the request of the United States.

Where the real tension sits

The gap between what Guterres wants and what the major powers are willing to do is wide. Analysts note that the US and EU members are "not really engaging" with UN-led AI governance, with companies like Anthropic and OpenAI running their own parallel conversations about the technology's future. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has dismissed AI risks as a "hoax."

So the summit has the scaffolding for a serious AI conversation, a dedicated Security Council session, a new scientific panel, and a secretary-general willing to call it an existential threat. Whether the major powers actually coordinate is the open question, and that is precisely the kind of thing that never gets fully resolved in one week in New York.