Australian Prime Minister Albanese urges US-China cooperation on AI risks

Anthony Albanese wants the world’s two biggest AI superpowers to sit down and talk before things get out of hand. The Australian Prime Minister, speaking from Cupertino, California on September 20 after meeting with Apple’s Tim Cook, called on the United States and China to jointly build a global framework for managing AI risks. The timing is deliberate. Albanese is headed to the UN General Assembly, where he plans to make technology safety, particularly AI and cybersecurity, a centerpiece of Australia’s diplomatic pitch. A middle power with a megaphone Albanese’s core argument is that middle powers like Australia shouldn’t just watch from the sidelines while Washington and Beijing duke it out over who controls the most consequential technology of the century. They should actively shape the outcome. US President Donald Trump has been publicly resistant to AI regulation, preferring a lighter-touch approach that he argues is necessary to maintain American leadership in the field. Albanese’s argument is that the technology is advancing too quickly for anyone to be comfortable with a hands-off approach, and that humans need to remain in control. What Australia is actually planning The ...