Urgent need for ‘global approach’ on AI regulation: UN tech chief

GENEVA (AFP): The world urgently needs to find a global approach on regulating artificial intelligence, the United Nations’ top tech chief said this week, warning that fragmentation could deepen risks and inequalities.

Doreen Bogdan-Martin, head of the UN’s International Telecommunications Union (ITU) agency, told AFP she hoped that AI “can actually benefit humanity”.

But as concerns mount over the risks posed by the fast-moving technology — including fears of mass job losses, the spread of deepfakes and disinformation, and society’s fabric fraying — she insisted that regulation was key.

“There’s an urgency to try to get… the right framework in place,” she said, stressing the need for “a global approach”.

Her comments came after US President Donald Trump this week unveiled an aggressive, low-regulation strategy aimed at ensuring the United States stays ahead of China on AI.

Among more than 90 proposals, Trump’s plan calls for sweeping deregulation, with the administration promising to “remove red tape and onerous regulation” that could hinder private sector AI development.

Asked if she had concerns about an approach that urges less, not more, regulation of AI technologies, Bogdan-Martin refrained from commenting, saying she was “still trying to digest” the US plan.