Abyei, Sudan, Yemen & other topics - Daily Press Briefing
Press Conferences
Date: 20 October 2026
Language: English
Transcript: https://transcripts.un.org/ar/briefing/sg/2026-10-20?lang=en
Transcripts available through this tool are created by using automatic speech recognition and are not official records nor official documents of the United Nations. Official records and official documents are available on the Official Document System of the United Nations.

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GA · Spokesperson [14:33]:

Okay, colleagues, hi. Thanks for coming. I'll get started. Just a few updates for you today on the GA and the President. On Friday, the President of the General Assembly convened his informal special event on climate change ahead of COP31. It was titled, "A Planet Fit for the Future: Restoring Trust Through Climate Action." And it focused on the role of science, technology, and local knowledge in developing early warning systems, as well as access to finance. The key speakers included the PGA, the permanent representatives of Turkey, Australia, Brazil, and Ethiopia, the presidency's troika, along with the lead negotiator, and many other government representatives. It also featured an interactive panel moderated by Marco Tedesco, Professor of Marine and Polar Geophysics at the Larchmont Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University's Climate School. In opening remarks, President Rochman recalled the recent devastation in Nepal and China, where a wall of water barreled down a valley, wiping away people, homes, and communities in its path. He said melting glaciers are also contributing to rising seas, while warmer oceans are reshaping weather patterns and heat and drought are undermining both food supplies and livelihoods. President Rochman said COP31 has placed implementation at the center of its agenda. He called on member states to arrive in Antalya ready to translate their nationally determined contributions into funded, measurable action consistent with keeping the 1.5 degrees goal within reach. And he called for delivery on the new collective quantified goal, which calls for at least 300 billion annually by 2035, with developed countries taking the lead, as well as adequate resourcing for the loss and damage fund and support for early warnings for all initiative, saying that, I quote, "An early warning only succeeds when it reaches the last mile and when people have the means to act." Over the weekend, as we flagged, the President traveled to Uzbekistan for the first official presidency trip. Tomorrow, he will be in Samarkand to address the World Summit on Investing in Children's Well-being as a Foundation for Sustainable and Just Development. That's being hosted by First Lady, Mrs. Zoiroat Mirziyoyeva, First Lady of the Republic of Uzbekistan. President Rahman will welcome efforts to place children's well-being at the center of our development priorities and ensure that every child has the opportunity to thrive. He's then expected to meet bilaterally with the First Lady, as well as President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, and he has already met earlier today with Uzbekistan's Minister for Foreign Affairs. He's expected back in New York on Thursday. Meanwhile, back here in the General Assembly, Member States will meet in plenary tomorrow, Wednesday, 21 October, to debate the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals. On Thursday, the Assembly will take up the question of Security Council reform. And on Friday, it will consider the annual report of the IAEA. So that's it for the week. Now allow me to take any questions you might have. If nothing here, then how about the online community? Okay, an update will suffice. Good. We have a guest and we have staff, so let me pass the floor. Quiz OKOK.


UN · Spokesperson [33:25]:

Welcome to the cold storage room. Helps to keep news fresh. Thought that was a good joke, no? All right. In a short while, we'll be joined by Robin Geiss, who is the director of the UN Institute for Disarmament Research, otherwise known as UNIDIR. He'll brief you on the launch of a range of new initiatives from UNIDIR Center of Excellence on AI, Peace and Security, which is working with governments around the world, industry, academia, and civil society to advance governance of military AI issues such as autonomous weapons, misuse by non-state groups, and convergence with other technologies like nuclear and cyber. 30 PM, there will be a briefing by Paula Gaver, a bit on core, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons. Also, we may have an SG stakeout tomorrow around 9:45 or 10:00, but we'll confirm that with you a bit later today at the Security Council stakeout tomorrow. I'll start off with Sudan, and I can tell you that we strongly condemn the series of drone attacks in Abyei, where at least 28 civilians were killed at Amiet Market and Todach, with many injured and many unaccounted for. That attack took place yesterday. We also strongly condemn the reported killings of dozens of civilians in another drone attack on a market in the locality of Al-Dibab in West Kordofan State on Sunday. The attack is part of a deeply concerning pattern. We remain alarmed by the relentless drone attacks across Sudan, as well as the damage they are causing to critical infrastructure. These attacks are taking a devastating toll on communities already struggling with the consequences of more than three years of conflict. In Khartoum, three children between the ages of two and six, two years old and six years old, as well as their father, were reportedly killed when a drone struck a residential area yesterday. And in South Darfur state, a drone strike reportedly hit residential house near the state capital of Nyala. That also took place yesterday. That caused civilian casualties, including women and children, and damaged surrounding homes. And today in White Nile State, drones reportedly struck the main power station in the town of Tendaltie, which damaged facilities, the main power facility. We reiterate again Yet again, that civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected in accordance with international humanitarian law and must never be targeted. All parties must take constant care to protect civilians and the infrastructure they rely on. Meanwhile, on the political end, I can tell you that we are continuing to work with all partners to advance peacemaking efforts in Sudan and support a coordinated approach to ending the conflict in that country. The Secretary General's personal envoy for Sudan, Pekka Haavisto, is currently in Geneva for the A consultative group meeting on Sudan, which he will co-host, that kicks off tomorrow in Geneva. And he will be co-hosting with the State Secretary of the Swiss Confederation, Ambassador Alexander Fasel. Today, pre-consultative briefing between participating delegations, UN principals, and representatives of the ICRC. and the Sudan International NGO Forum took place, aimed at a shared understanding of recent developments in the country and to help inform tomorrow's discussions. On the margins of the consultative group meeting, the Personal Envoy will also engage with key regional and international partners. from the Quad and the Quintet initiatives. We will share Mr. Javito's remarks tomorrow, and you can also follow him on UN Web TV, but I assume it'll be early in the morning for you. Turning to Yemen, where the situation around Taiz continues to deteriorate and it continues to be of grave concern for all of us. Road closures and insecurity are preventing vital supplies, including fuel, from entering the city and the surrounding areas. This leaves millions of people at risk of losing access to essential goods and services. We and our partners are doing everything possible to support people in need and to help bring essential goods, services, and medical supplies to Taiz. But humanitarian efforts cannot meet these needs if essential supplies are prevented from reaching the city. Roads must be reopened. And we join our Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, Lauren Boucher, in calling on the Houthi authorities to urgently ensure the safe passage for commercial goods, for food, for medicine, and all humanitarian assistance so it can reach the besieged city of Taiz. And those -- the humanitarian needs in Taiz must be met without any obstruction. The crisis is also driving further displacement. UNHCR tells us that displacement continues to rise sharply across Yemen, reaching more than a quarter of a million people as of October 17th, up from 213,000 people previously reported, shelter remains the most cited needs among newly displaced families. In response, UNHCR is providing emergency financial assistance. It's scaling up its shelter support while working with partners to distribute shelter and essential items to newly displaced families. We once again call on all the parties here as well to protect civilians and to protect civilian infrastructure and to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches all those who needed in a rapid and unhindered manner. Turning to the occupied Palestinian territory, the Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that today in Gaza, we assessed displacement sites hosting 650 families in Khan Yunis, including 160 families who were staying in a low-lying pit that used to collect rainwater and is now at risk of being flooded both by rain and sewage. People say they pitch tents there because they had no better options, even though the place flooded last winter. We're helping a number of families at especially high risk to relocate voluntarily to a safer place. Yesterday, we and our partners assessed five other low-lying displacement sites, hosting about 750 people, also in Conynus. And we also explored potential sites for improvements and how to mitigate the flood risks. We also assisted a sixth site, hosting 250 families, which is on the edge of a cliff overlooking the five low-lying sites we talked about. We're worried that the soil erosion this winter could cause the ground beneath the tents to collapse. Families at all six sites reported yesterday that they lack basic support, including adequate shelter, hygiene supplies, and food assistance, as well as sufficient and dignified sanitation facilities with latrines in poor conditions and each shared by three families on average. Across Gaza, partners are undertaking drainage, clearance, sandbagging, the ground level to support such communities, but efforts are being held back by funding shortfalls, restrictions on the entry and the range of goods that are allowed in. In the first two weeks of October, our shelter site management partners supported emergency repairs to about 440 damaged housing units and provided 45 transitional shelter units and assisted families relocated from an unsafe building in Gaza. in Gaza City. Shelter and household items reached about 37,500 households, including more than 5,000 tents, 25,000 tarpaulins, and 32,000 solar lights. Our shelter partners said the supplies currently available are only enough to partially support less than a fifth of the nearly 300,000 families that are in desperate need of winter shelter. And in Ethiopia, our humanitarian partners continue to deliver lifesaving assistance despite insecurity and access challenges in parts of the north of the country. OCHA says across Tigray, additional medical, nutrition, and other essential supplies have reached communities at health facilities, and more assistance is on the way. In Amhara, our partners are preparing to provide food assistance to around 100,000 people in Wagh Anra and North Wollo. Humanitarian operations also continue across Afar, though limited funding continues to be a major obstacle. Humanitarian needs also continue to far outpace available resources in Amhara. only 16 of the 57 mobile and health and nutrition teams needed are currently operating. 10 of those 16 are expected to shut down by the end of the month. And in Tigray, our partners continue to work with regional authorities to facilitate access and expand assistance. Yesterday, our humanitarian coordinator, Ozonia Ogielo, met officials from the newly established caretaker interim administration in Tigray and stressed the need for unhindered humanitarian access. We We recall, again, our need to have humanitarian goods being able to reach wherever they are needed. And this morning, the head of our peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic, Valentin Rugwabiza, briefed Council members on the situation in that country. She announced the release of the hostages that took place yesterday, who'd been held captive by the AAKG armed group since December 2025, following an attack in Bambo. She said their release followed several months of intense mediation by local leaders and the peacekeeping mission, as well as a mission operation to secure the area where they were freed. Ms. Rugwabiza told Council members that the country continues to make progress in consolidating political, peace, and security gains, including through the implementation of the peace agreement, the disarmament and demobilization process, and the installation of local authorities. At the same time, she warned that the security situation in parts of the northeast and southeast remains fragile and stressed the need to strengthen national institutions and ensure a gradual, responsible transition supported by MINUSCA. And lastly, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, our peacekeeping colleagues there said that the mission in the country continues to conduct joint patrols with the Congolese Armed Forces in Ituri. and as well as North Kivu to help protect civilians and enable communities to safely access their farmland. Last week, as part of the Operation Yondo II, peacekeepers conducted day and night patrols in Beni territory, covering villages, farming areas, markets, key transport routes along the Mavivi-Mbau-Musuku-Mandubi axis. In Ituri, peacekeepers and the Congolese armed forces also carried out a joint patrol in Sengi village and surrounding agricultural areas under Operation Secure Harvest. The peacekeepers say their operations are aimed at deterring threats from armed groups, strengthening security, and enabling communities to continue their daily activities, including farming and harvesting, in a very safe manner. No money, no international days, no quiz, so, Edie, your turn.


AP · Correspondent [45:23]:

Thank you, Steph. On the meeting of the consultative group on Sudan, have the government and rapid support forces representatives been invited?


UN · Spokesperson [45:40]:

I should have known that. I will check for you. Tell me. That's it.


AP · Correspondent [45:48]:

Secondly, I was going to ask if the Secretary General has any comment on the results of the election, sorry, the vote in Alberta to remain part of Canada.


UN · Spokesperson [46:08]:

No particular comment, but to say that I think the results of the vote were clear. Abdelhamid.


Journalist [46:17]:

Thank you, Stefan. I'll ask about the same question I ask every time. There are eight Palestinians killed in Gaza today, including two children and a woman. Why this piece of news, which is very important, why it's missing? And if it's -- if you don't know about it today, would it be in your briefing tomorrow?


UN · Spokesperson [46:38]:

I mean, I'm not debating the fact that news when innocent civilians get killed is not important. It was not part of the reporting that we received today. But as you know, when there are civilian casualties and we have information, we share it.


Journalist [46:56]:

But I want to ask again the same question. I have been observing this noon briefing every single day, and I want to see one day you say that five Palestinians killed, six Palestinians, two children killed, we condemn that. I want the numbers to come because they're human. They're two children.


UN · Spokesperson [47:16]:

No one is debating the humanity of the victims, right? The numbers and the confirmation of deaths, as you know, come from the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Just because we don't announce them doesn't mean the numbers don't exist. And, again, I would refer you to the numerous reports and briefings and presentations done by either the Secretary-General or his representative in the Security Council, which I think have been very clear in noting and condemning the deaths of civilians in Gaza. Okay, any questions online?


Journalist [48:02]:

Thank you very much, Stefano Vaccara.


UN · Spokesperson [48:04]:

Stefano Vaccara, please, welcome.


Journalist [48:08]:

Thank you, Stefano. I have a question about Alice Edwards, the former UN Special Rapporteur on torture. In an opinion piece published yesterday in the Telegraph, she accused fellow special rapporteurs Francesca Albanese and Reem Mansour of failing to address the atrocity committed against Israelis on October 7 and during their captivity. She's also sharply criticized Secretary General Guterres for what she sees as a lack of leadership in addressing problem within the UN system. Edwards mentioned that she worked worked with Guterres when he was UN High Commissioner for Refugees. My question is, did Edwards ever raise these concerns about her fellow rapporteurs directly with the Secretary-General, either during her mandate or afterward? And what is Guterres' response to her accusations?


UN · Spokesperson [49:07]:

I don't know if she raised those issues directly with the secretary-general. As you know, we don't comment on the substance of what special rapporteurs say. They do not report to the secretary-general. He does not appoint them. That is an issue for the presidency of the Human Rights Council to deal with. Lack of, I mean, I don't, I'll have to read the piece. I haven't read it. I'm just wondering what lack of leadership on what?


Journalist [49:38]:

Lack of leadership on, on, make sure that what she accuses the other rapporteurs of being biased, it doesn't happen. She thinks that he, the UN system of what he's responsible for should be, you know, he should have been more active. But I urge you to read the article.


UN · Spokesperson [50:05]:

I mean, I don't. I don't really. I have time. I don't really understand the the second part of your question. You cannot accuse the secretary general of lack of leadership on managing people that don't report to him and that he doesn't and that he doesn't appoint. I think his statements on the situation between Israelis and Palestinians have been firmly anchored in international law, have been firmly anchored in the principles of the Charter, and he will continue to speak in that way. The issues of special rapporteurs, what they write, how they behave, what they don't write, how they maybe don't behave, is an issue that needs to be dealt with with the people who appoint them, which is not the Secretary-General. Your other question.


Journalist [50:57]:

Is a follow-up. I understand that special rapporteurs are independent, they do not report to the Secretary-General, but when former and current UN human rights experts publicly accuse one another of political bias and of failing victims, Doesn't that undermine the credibility of the entire UN human rights system? Does the Secretary-General believe this public confrontation is damaging the UN credibility? And is there anything he can do to address it?


UN · Spokesperson [51:31]:

Dialogue and people expressing their opinion is always a good thing. We do think that special rapporteurs, the institution of special rapporteurs, is a critical cog in the international human rights system. The management and the policing, or maybe the administration of the individuals who serve as special rapporteurs, belongs to those people who appoint them. Okay, any other questions? Then please don't move and I will get our guests. All right. We're delighted to be joined by Robin Geiss, who is, I mentioned, the director of the UN Institution on Disarmament Research, otherwise known as UNIDIR. So, Robin, welcome. You have the floor, then we'll take some questions.


UNIDIR · Director [52:26]:

Yes. Thank you very much, Stephane. Thank you all for joining us today. UNIDIR works on the key disarmament, arms control, and global security issues of our time, and AI is clearly one of them. So I'm here today to speak to you about artificial intelligence, a recent UNIDIR Center of Excellence on AI, Peace, and Security that we launched in Geneva this summer, and a number of initiatives that we're going to unveil over the course of this week here in New York. So to start us off, I think we can say machine warfare is coming ever closer. And the question put simply that's in front of us is really, are we going to let machines target and kill human beings? Secretary General of the United Nations has warned repeatedly, we're dangerously close to crossing this moral red line. And let's make no mistake, artificial intelligence, autonomy are already embedded widely across the military domain. We find them in intelligence analysis and target identification, drones, cyber attacks, information operations, and so on, as we speak. Decision cycles are compressing. They're compressing to machine speed, and the margin for human judgment is increasingly narrow, including in the nuclear domain. Opaque systems are increasing the risk of error, of miscalculation, and escalation, unintended escalation. And the proliferation of AI capabilities means that the threshold, the entry point for very sophisticated operations is getting lower, potentially also allowing non-state actors to engage in sophisticated operations supported by AI. A small number of countries and companies are shaping security outcomes in the domain of AI in ways that traditional arms control frameworks were not designed to address. and in ways that profoundly affect the security of all other states on the planet. And yet, despite of all this, for a long time at least, there has been quite a reluctance to engage with this, perhaps the sharpest edge of AI's growing impact on the world, both within the UN and also beyond. Thankfully, this is beginning to change. There is a growing realization that we stand at a crossroads, that now is the time to act, including on military AI. And if this needs any proof, just look back to the recent high-level discussions here at the United Nations General Assembly that were so focused on artificial intelligence and some of the risks it poses. Now, to be clear, geopolitical competition and tension are serious obstacles to the way forward, of course. But concerns about AI's impact are already transcending geopolitical blocs and are prompting action from major powers. Just last month, for example, we saw the United States propose an AI safety hotline with China in case of an AI incident that could threaten national security. And the Secretary General's repeated calls for stronger regulation of military AI and a legally binding treaty on lethal autonomous weapons systems increasingly find an echo across the international community. So it's against all of this, against the backdrop of all of this, that at UNIDIR, we recently launched the UNIDIR Center of Excellence on AI, Peace and Security. The center is a one of its kind, permanent, impartial platform within the United Nations that aims to present a coherent approach at the very issue of AI in international peace and security. This Thursday here in New York, together with Switzerland and Pakistan, we will launch the center's new forum, which will, once it's there, present the only multi-stakeholder body within the United Nations system that works on AI and international peace and security and in the military domain. Tackling this highly sensitive but increasingly crucial issue will, of course, require sustained engagement with actors from every relevant sector and all over the world, which is precisely what the Forum and the Center are here to do. Over the course of the week, three other Center initiatives will be unveiled. first addresses the role of industry and aims at developing a framework for responsible industry behavior. Decisions taken by companies on system design, training data, testing, support during deployment and post deployment, all these determine whether AI-enabled military capabilities are ultimately reliable, predictable, and whether they can operate in line with international law. So it's a crucial stage, the design and development stage for which industry is largely responsible. And for that reason, UNIDIR is developing a framework of responsible industry behavior that will provide practical, voluntary guidelines grounded in international law and in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. This will serve to establish a common baseline for responsible conduct across the technology life cycle, which will go on to inform government procurement and public-private partnerships. The targeted consultations we're launching this week engage the full spectrum of industry stakeholders, major and emerging defense technology companies, software developers, dual-use service providers, subcontractors, and investors, all working alongside governments, civil society, academia, and expert communities. We're partnering with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on this to also boost coherence on this issue across the entire UN ecosystem. And since the framework's credibility will depend largely on the inclusiveness of its development, the process itself will be just as important as the final product. A second key initiative that we're launching this week here in New York addresses the issue of language. We find that states frequently use terms like autonomy, safety, or security to mean very different things. And this ambiguity then leaks international positions and approaches, and it gets into the way of finding agreement or building trust on the international level. This in mind, UNIDIR this Friday will launch a project to develop an AI security lexicon that will both clarify key concepts and also set out divergent understandings that remain to date. Ultimately, our hope is that this will help states to find common ground and to engage on an equal footing on this complex issue of AI in the military domain. The third initiative that we're launching this week addresses the risk of misuse of AI and AI capabilities by non-state armed groups. UNIDIR is working with UNITAR in Austria this week to convene a discussion on the non-proliferation of AI. focusing on misuse of AI capabilities by malicious actors, such as terrorist groups and criminal networks. Emerging research provides concrete evidence of AI already being used by such actors to support operational planning, execution, and logistics. But despite the significance of the potential risks that are there, to date, this issue has received rather little attention. Existing nonproliferation regimes, expert networks, export control frameworks, they provide a foundation for dealing with such issues, but the challenge of AI clearly extends far beyond the traditional scope of these instruments. Our aim is to identify where gaps remain and to come up ideally with concrete measures that can be implemented at the national and international levels. while ensuring that efforts to prevent misuse do not limit access to the peaceful uses and benefits of artificial intelligence for all. Now, over the coming months, UNIDIR's Centre of Excellence on AI, Peace and Security will carry this important work forward, not least by helping states to develop national approaches to AI in security and defence. We will also start to build our support for Switzerland as it prepares for the Geneva AI Summit in June 2027. But the urgent issue of AI in the military domain will certainly no longer be allowed to linger in the shadows. The time has come to pool our strengths and confront AI in the military head on. This is what the center is here to do. Thank you all very much for your attention today, and I look forward to your questions.


UN · Spokesperson [1:00:44]:

Thank you very much. Edith, please.


AP · Correspondent [1:00:46]:

Thank you very much on behalf of the United Nations Correspondents Association. My name is Edith Lederer from the Associated Press, and I have a bunch of follow-up questions. First, who's going to be funding all of this work? Is it from the UN or is it from private or government donations? And if so, do you have enough to get this project off the ground? Secondly, how narrow is the timeline between autonomous action and human control of military weapons and nuclear weapons.


UNIDIR · Director [1:01:51]:

Sorry, just to ask, how narrow is the timeline? How close are we to full autonomy? That is difficult to assess. And I think it's exactly that uncertainty that we cannot know with certainty how close we are to fuller autonomy is the issue we're trying to resolve here. One of the problems is, of course, that we're seeing AI is increasingly creeping in in so many different ways. It's not just a decision, are we using AI for this decision, yes or no? It is creeping into early warning systems. It is creeping into information analysis, reconnaissance, information gathering. And this creeping in of AI is a process, and it's quite difficult to say at which point we're actually really losing control. But we can say that this process is clearly on track to crowding out human decision making increasingly, and that's what we're concerned about. To the funding, as UNITID is a voluntary funded organization, I'm delighted to say that we have a very wide set of donors for the institute, including all the P5 and countries from all of the regional groupings, which I find quite exceptional given the very sensitive issues that we're dealing with. We have a list of states that are funding the institute. We have, so to say, startup funding that will get us through the initial five years. So we're comfortably funded for the center, and comfortably funded also means we can ensure our autonomy in taking this research forward.


AP · Correspondent [1:03:16]:

As a quick follow-up, do you have buy-in for this whole institute and what it's doing from the P5, from the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, and France?


UNIDIR · Director [1:03:32]:

All of them are donors for different aspects within the institute, but all of them are donors to INDEA, that's correct, yeah, as of today.


UN · Spokesperson [1:03:40]:

Great, thank you. Namo, and then we'll go.


Journalist [1:03:44]:

Thank you very much. Nam Abdullah with Ruda Media Network. On two things. First, what do you think, what do you see as the strongest incentive for governments and militaries to hand decision making over to the AI when it comes to killing humans? This is just a speculation. Why would governments and militaries want to do that? And my second question is on the threat of biological terrorism. A few weeks ago, months ago, for the first time, an AI designed a complete genome, like a virus was created from scratch. And it was a good virus, but it could be a bad virus. Can you talk more about that? Thank you.


UNIDIR · Director [1:04:33]:

Yeah, on the biosecurity level, that is certainly, I think, a risk and concern that we need to take very seriously. As I said, we're trying to really cast a wide net engaging with so many different actors, whether it be at states or from the industry sector. And one concern that keeps reemerging and that's very much in the here of now. I mean, there's many different layers of risk we're discussing with regard to AI, but one of the more plausible, more imminent ones is clearly that very powerful language, large language models could be used to uncover things in the field of biosecurity that previously were simply not accessible. From there on, it's still a way to developing any weaponized kind of structures or systems, but nonetheless, this is a very serious concern. It is core focus of our research to addressing this issue and making sure that biological capabilities don't get into the wrong hands. On the loss of control and incentives there. I mean, the military never has any incentive to lose control over anything. So if anything, they want control. So that's not my priority concern. But we do see emerging arms racing dynamics. We do see that on the battlefield, the race around AI in the military is very much a race for speed, increasing the pace of battlefield operations. downsizing the sensor to shooter time, increasing the number of targets that can be engaged in any one day in military operations. This is already reaching unprecedented levels that we haven't seen before. So complexity and pace are increasing and there is a wider risk of losing control, not over individual weapon systems, but potentially if we're overdoing it over military processes. Plus we're seeing a transformation at a scale technological scale that simply we're not used to and we haven't seen at that speed. And I think this creates a number of uncertainties where we're simply not used to new types of battlefield behavior, new types of operations, swarms of uncrewed systems, and we're not so sure always where all the red lines are. And that's an important field of our work. That's kind of the different dimensions where I see that loss of control could be imminent. Another issue of loss of control is being discussed already for some years at the United Nations is with regard to lethal autonomous weapon systems. That's more specific systems, the tip of the iceberg, if you want. But AI in military decision making is a far broader and more complex issue in more general. Yes, please.


Journalist [1:07:10]:

Hello, my name is Aynur. I represent Silk Way TV channel of Kazakhstan. I have two questions, one follow up on the first initiative. You said the framework that will include, um, the, um, defense companies, software companies, other, uh, representatives of, of, of the stakeholders, have any of these industry leaders, um, uh, have really confirmed to their participation in, in, in, in taking part of the discussions and being a part of, of this dialogue?


UNIDIR · Director [1:07:42]:

Yes, uh, some are already on board, we're launching consultations this week to bring in more, the idea that we have is that we want to cast a wide net, uh, on these issues, um, very diverse set of actors, like I said. And what we're certainly seeing is that compared to maybe five years ago, now the interest on the industry side is significantly increased. There's much more interest. We see many more industry players at our different conferences. We convene the different workshops that we run all year round. So yes, some have confirmed, some prefer not to be listed publicly, but we're in discussions with a very wide range of actors on this.


Journalist [1:08:20]:

Could you disclose the names of?


UNIDIR · Director [1:08:22]:

Microsoft, for example, is a donor to media and will be part of this process. Hitachi America, I just, sorry, I don't have the individual names, all of them present, but there is a list of companies. It's public, the ones that agree to be listed anyway.


Journalist [1:08:38]:

And my second question is, despite all of these concerns regarding nuclear disarmament, we can see that all nine nuclear-armed states continue to expand and to modernize their arsenals, and it's make nuclear disarmament topic increasingly difficult to achieve. And the numerous experts are warning of a high risk of nuclear war. So my question here is more general. What mechanisms do you believe could effectively bring nuclear powers together for a dialogue on nuclear disarmament? Because at the moment, they show unwillingness of addressing this topic.


UNIDIR · Director [1:09:19]:

Yeah, I'm, you know, there is a range of, uh, uh, fora, uh, to pursue these dialogues, we had the NPT review conference, uh, earlier this year, of course, which, uh, was a milestone event, uh, in and of itself that is, uh, uh, one of the core fora to discuss these issues, uh, continuously. Of course, we all know that we are in a very difficult geopolitical environment. For us, this means here too, with regard to nuclear weapons, we're trying to be creative about formats to convene at the expert level as many dialogues as possible to understand the very fast changing landscape, because what's changing in AI and new technologies, what's changing in outer space, all these different dimensions converge and they all have nuclear implications as well. So there is significant uncertainty. Maybe to give just one example with AI, if with increasing sensors and more autonomous systems that roam the oceans, at some point it might be possible to track and identify submarines in a more coherent way than is currently possible. That could compromise second strike logics and current deterrent logics. So there is a lot to unpack in this area, and this is what we're working on at UNIDIR.


UN · Spokesperson [1:10:31]:

Thank you very much. Edie, one last one.


AP · Correspondent [1:10:35]:

One last question. The prospect for any kind of international cooperation on the military use of artificial intelligence has been exceedingly limited in the past. What do you attribute the growing interest in this field too.


UNIDIR · Director [1:11:11]:

Yeah, well, just, you're right, and I agree with that assessment, but of course, now we're seeing these technologies actually applied at scale. And as we're going to see more advances in the field of robotics in the coming years, all of this will become significantly more real than so far it has been and has been perceived. And I think this is, after all, what is prompting states to address this issue in a more structured way. And in times of geopolitical competition, ongoing conflicts is, of course, a high-stakes issue. And we have to manage our expectations. But at the same time, we're seeing some of the very grave risks unfold in front of our eyes. There really is no time to lose on these issues. So we hope we can do our share to move the international community towards more progress in this important field.


UN · Spokesperson [1:12:02]:

Great. On that note, Robin, thank you so much. Thank you very much. And thanks to all of you.