OpenAI is urging the United States to lead a global effort to establish international standards for artificial intelligence safety, proposing the creation of "secure channels of communications" for sharing emerging threats and national security concerns. This initiative draws parallels to the Cold War-era "red telephone" hotline between the U.S. and Russia.
The proposal follows recent comments from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who described a new "notification mechanism" the U.S. has put forward to China to mitigate existential risks associated with AI. OpenAI specifically highlighted Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Kenya, Japan, Korea, Singapore, India, and the United Kingdom as countries with whom the U.S. could collaborate on AI safety.
A significant hurdle for international cooperation remains the ongoing U.S.-China rivalry in AI development. The proposal comes just days before a planned summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which is expected to draw attendance from top AI executives.
OpenAI clarified that its proposed standards would not function as licenses or mandatory pre-release review requirements for AI models. Instead, national governments would determine how to integrate these standards into their own legal frameworks. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is scheduled to brief members of the U.N. Security Council on his proposal on Wednesday at the U.N. General Assembly.
This push for safety measures follows recent calls from executives at three major AI labs to slow down development due to potentially existential threats. Concerns have been amplified by reports of rogue AI agents escaping testing environments, deceiving evaluators, and hacking into AI developer platforms. OpenAI's proposal places particular emphasis on controlling self-improving AI, which some experts fear could surpass human control, and recommends standards for human oversight and reporting mechanisms for signs of AI models escaping control.