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The AI arms race goes global
“They’re not going to own it. They’re not going to make it. They’re going to be takers, not makers.”
Ian Bremmer and Julia Chatterley discuss how the AI arms race is reshaping geopolitics, not just for the Global South, but also for Europe and beyond.
Watch more Global Stage coverage from the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly here: gzeromedia.com/globalstage
Live from the UN: Rethink, Reset, Deliver Better with Data & AI
Join us live from United Nations headquarters today at 5:30 pm ET! Global leaders, policymakers, technologists, and frontline partners will convene for a UN-hosted live event during the General Assembly High-level Week. The event will examine how smarter use of data and technology, supported by renewed coherence and efficiency, can unlock new solutions to global challenges. This livestream event is produced in partnership between the Complex Risk Analytics Fund, or CRAF’d, and GZERO Media’s Global Stage series. Watch live at https://www.gzeromedia.com/unglobalstage.
Tony Maciulis, GZERO Media's global chief content officer, will moderate a discussion with an expert panel:
- Guy Ryder, Under-Secretary-General for Policy, United Nations
- Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs & Emergency Relief Coordinator, OCHA, United Nations
- Ugochi Daniels, Deputy Director General of UN Migration
- Dr. Comfort Ero, President & CEO, International Crisis Group
- Gunn Jorid Roset, Director General, Norad
- Dr. Ahmed Ogwell, President & CEO, VillageReach
The panel will cover key themes of this year's UN General Assembly, including:
- UN80 and the Humanitarian Compact: How a renewed multilateral system can link humanitarian response with sustainable development
- Data, analytics, and AI for crisis action: How emerging technologies can help anticipate risks, unlock funding, and strengthen delivery on the ground
- From data to development: How investments in data and digital public goods can power both immediate response and long-term resilience
Global trade is experiencing a tectonic shift, says UNCTAD's Rebeca Grynspan
The Trump administration’s tariffs have added uncertainty and complexity to global trade, particularly burdening emerging and developing economies.
UNCTAD Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan calls this a “tectonic shift in the trade regime,” noting that negotiations have replaced a potential tariff war.
She warns that vulnerable countries are being hit hardest often facing higher tariffs than major US trading partners despite posing little threat. Grynspan urges the US government to reconsider these trade measures to avoid devastating impacts.
Watch more Global Stage coverage from the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly here: gzeromedia.com/globalstage
The UN at 80: Can multilateralism survive AI, war, and fragmentation?
A world beset by war, widening inequality, climate stress, and runaway AI demands institutions that can still deliver. In a Global Stage conversation recorded live on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly, moderated by journalist Julia Chatterley, our expert panel probes whether multilateralism can adapt amid crisis and competition.
The panelists test the resilience of global cooperation as conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan strain resources and trust. Ian Bremmer, president and founder of Eurasia Group, argues that despite volatility—especially around U.S. policy—existing institutions remain indispensable, even as power dynamics shift. Rebeca Grynspan, secretary‑general of UNCTAD and former vice president of Costa Rica, warns that tariff escalations and budget cuts risk devastating the most vulnerable economies and humanitarian efforts, urging protection for least‑developed countries and smarter, more efficient use of limited funds. Brad Smith, vice chair and president of Microsoft, highlights how technology and “data center diplomacy” can boost efficiency and service delivery, while Ambassador Philip Thigo, Kenya’s special envoy on technology, underscores the Global South’s growing role in shaping consensus and the need for multistakeholder governance that brings private sector, civil society, and academia to the table.
The discussion zeroes in on AI’s uneven diffusion—and what it will take to close the gap in electricity access, connectivity, and digital skills so adoption translates into productivity and inclusive growth. S. Krishnan, secretary at India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), positions India as a bridge between North and South, leveraging low‑cost digital public infrastructure and frugal innovation to help countries leapfrog in targeted areas. Smith urges nations to focus not on building chips but on deploying AI to amplify existing strengths and talent, while Bremmer notes that pragmatic engagement with both US and Chinese tech ecosystems can help countries avoid dependency. The optimistic takeaway: reform is necessary, cooperation is rising, and leaders have real agency to steer technology toward the common good.
This conversation is presented by GZERO in partnership with Microsoft, as part of the Global Stage series, which convenes global leaders for critical conversations on the geopolitical and technological trends shaping our world.
The AI divide: Who gets left behind?
Almost 4 billion people lack the infrastructure to participate in the AI revolution. Can business and policy leaders ensure technology narrows, not widens, the global gap?
Vice chair and President of Microsoft, Brad Smith says, "AI will either help close the great divide economically in the world, or it will make it wider." With billions lacking power, internet, and digital literacy, the stakes are high.
Smith argues that only bold partnerships between governments and companies can ensure AI lifts everyone.
Watch more Global Stage coverage from the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly here: gzeromedia.com/globalstage
US President Donald Trump delivers his speech to the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, United States, Tuesday, September 23, 2025.
Trump at the UN: Teleprompter trouble and tough talk
“Whoever’s in charge of the teleprompter is in trouble,” Donald Trump quipped from the lectern at the United Nations General Assembly, drawing a chuckle as the screen in front of him blinked blankly. The levity didn’t last. For the next hour, Trump delivered a speech that blended campaign-style hyperbole about his own achievements, sharp criticism of the UN, and stark warnings to fellow leaders that “your countries are going to hell.”
Immigration dominated the opening moments. Trump praised El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele for keeping US deportees in “terrorist prisons” and warned that nations failing to control their borders risk being “ruined” by uncontrolled migration. He also accused the UN of incentivizing and funding illegal immigration worldwide.
Turning to broader global issues, Trump claimed credit for ending or defusing seven conflicts—from the war between Israel and Iran, to fighting in Armenia and Azerbaijan—arguing that U.S. leadership resolves disputes more effectively than multilateral institutions. “Sadly, in all cases, the United Nations did not even try to help,” he said, questioning the body’s ability to act decisively on global crises. On Gaza, he demanded the release of hostages and denounced countries recognizing Palestinian statehood as “rewarding Hamas.” On Ukraine, he criticized Europe for continuing to buy Russian oil while calling for an end to the war. He highlighted US attacks on drug-trafficking boats from Venezuela and threatened to “blow them out of existence” if they attempted to move narcotics into the US.
The day had begun with Secretary General António Guterres, who opened the session by cautioning that the UN’s founding principles are “under siege.” Trump’s appearance only underscored that warning as the leader of the world’s most powerful nation lambasted the organization. Guterres and Trump are set to meet face to face later this week.
The UN at 80: Reform, cuts & the future of multilateralism
The United Nations is marking its 80th anniversary under intense pressure: shrinking resources, deep geopolitical divisions, and global challenges left unresolved.
“The question is not whether the UN’s mandate is good ... it’s whether we are equipped, and whether the world is ready, to pursue it.”
UN Under-Secretary-General Guy Ryder joins GZERO Media’s Tony Maciulis from the sidelines of the 2025 UN General Assembly to discuss the UN80 initiative, which aims to streamline mandates, cut costs, and restore public trust.
This conversation is presented by GZERO in partnership with Microsoft, from the 2025 UN General Assembly. The Global Stage series convenes global leaders for critical conversations on the geopolitical and technological trends shaping our world.
Major western countries are going to recognize Palestine for the first time. Here’s why it matters.
As leaders from around the world arrive in New York for this year's United Nations General Assembly, one of the thorniest global issues hangs over the proceedings.
“Palestine is going to be the elephant in the room,” said Palestinian ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour during an interview with GZERO this week in New York.
That’s because in the coming days several major Western powers are set to recognize Palestinian statehood for the first time. France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Malta will all take this step.
What does it mean to recognize Palestinian statehood? Palestine exists in a paradox: it enjoys international recognition from nearly 150 countries, which allows it to field Olympic teams, maintain diplomatic missions abroad, and participate –partially, as an observer state – at the UN. Yet it lacks agreed upon borders, an army or capital, or full sovereignty under Israel’s ongoing occupation. France, in its announcement of its intention to recognize Palestine, said it was doing so to “reaffirm the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination.” It also stressed that it was recognizing Palestinian Authority (PA), which is based in the West Bank, rather than Hamas, which rules Gaza, as having sovereignty over all of the Palestinian territories, because the PA “has come out strongly in favor of the two-State solution and peace.”
Why are they recognizing Palestine now? All of these countries have historically showed strong support for Israel, and none of them voted in favor of Palestine’s UN observer status more than a decade ago. But the scenes of starvation in Gaza and mounting anger over the ferocity of Israel's prolonged military campaign in response to the Oct. 7th attacks, have shifted public opinion in many of these countries. In the UK, polling has showed increasing sympathy for Palestine over Israel, rising from 15% following the Oct. 7 attacks to 37% as of July of 2025. Meanwhile, support for Israel has fallen to 15%, with 51% of Britons saying that its actions are unjustified.
“Millions of people in these nations are pressuring their governments to do more in order to stop the genocide,” says Mansour, “to recognize the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people to self determination, to statehood and the right of the refugees.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, has said recognizing a Palestinian state "rewards Hamas's monstrous terrorism and punishes its victims." The US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said that "what destroyed the negotiations for the hostages was the European nations going and having this push for a unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state... it destroyed negotiations."
The US, consequently, has denied visas for over 80 Palestinian representatives, including Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The White House says Palestinian officials have undermined Gaza negotiations by appealing to international criminal courts that have accused Israel of war crimes and by seeking UN recognition.
Will this recognition have a real effect? Not on the ground, at least not immediately. The UN as such exerts little influence over Israel.
But the fact that powerful G7 countries have taken this step for the first time does signal a changing tide of opinion in the West, in particular among some of Israel’s staunchest backers.
It also gives Palestine the support of four of the UN Security Council's five permanent members – France, the UK, China, and Russia. That leaves the US, Israel's strongest ally by far, in a minority of one.
The moves come as Gaza negotiations are more stalled than ever. The Israeli military invaded Gaza City yesterday, and last week killed several senior Hamas leaders involved in negotiations in Qatar. Meanwhile, Hamas has shown no willingness to release the remaining Israeli hostages before there is a ceasefire.
Recognition or not, Mansour says a ceasefire remains the most important priority. “A ceasefire saves lives and potentially allows for the release of the hostages, but the continuation of the war takes lives and threatens the lives of the hostages.”