Robot Dogs, Teslas, and Rescue Helicopters: The UN AI Summit Was a Lot
Sessions were backed by a drumbeat of worry that indifferent deployment by unchecked corporate monopolies is already hardwiring global inequality and eroding human rights.For some on the front lines, the tech industry's utopian veneer has already worn off. Speaking on the sidelines of the event, Giulio Coppi, senior humanitarian officer at campaign group Access Now, called out the humanitarian and public sectors’ overreliance on big tech. “We should be out of the age of innocence,” Coppi says, demanding that organizations stop treating tech companies “as your best friends.” He points to a decade of opaque, multimillion-dollar deals funded by public money.
- ▪Sessions were backed by a drumbeat of worry that indifferent deployment by unchecked corporate monopolies is already hardwiring global inequality and eroding human rights.For some on the front lines, the tech industry's utopian veneer has a
- ▪Speaking on the sidelines of the event, Giulio Coppi, senior humanitarian officer at campaign group Access Now, called out the humanitarian and public sectors’ overreliance on big tech.
- ▪“We should be out of the age of innocence,” Coppi says, demanding that organizations stop treating tech companies “as your best friends.” He points to a decade of opaque, multimillion-dollar deals funded by public money.
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Chris Stokel-WalkerPoliticsJul 10, 2026 2:00 AMRobot Dogs, Teslas, and Rescue Helicopters: The UN AI Summit Was a LotAmid live coding sessions and Silicon Valley optimism, the UN’s AI for Good summit wrestled with an increasingly urgent question: Can global governance catch up before the technology races beyond its control?Photograph: Getty ImagesCommentLoaderSave StorySave this storyCommentLoaderSave StorySave this storyDodge past the live onstage coding sessions, AI refresher courses, an obstacle course of gizmos, round people walking round with glowing green silent-disco-style headphones blaring UN panel discussions into your ears, and you can take a pause for breath.
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