SIPRI played a prominent role in the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly First Committee. The UN First Committee is one of six main committees of the UN General Assembly. It deals with disarmament and international security matters.
Transfers of technology for peaceful uses
On 9 October, SIPRI and the European Union (EU) organized a side event to inform a UN debate on enabling transfers of technology for peaceful uses. The event supported these discussions by providing space for a multidimensional exchange of views about the multilateral export control regimes and domestic export controls. Dr Mark Bromley, Director of SIPRI’s Dual-Use and Arms Trade Control Programme, chaired the discussion, which explored the extent to which these regimes and controls enable or hinder such transfers and the contributions they make to international peace and security.
The nexus between AI and nuclear weapons
SIPRI’s Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Programme organized two side events to the First Committee. ‘Approaching the AI–Nuclear Nexus’, co-hosted with the German Federal Foreign Office on 10 October, explored the implications for the nuclear domain of rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI). Programme Director Dr Wilfred Wan moderated the conversation during the first event.
Dr Wan also engaged widely during the First Committee in other state-initiated conversations on risk reduction in the nuclear domain, including at an event co-organized by the Permanent Missions of Germany and Finland to discuss an initiative on ‘Creating an Environment for Nuclear Disarmament’.
The nexus between space and nuclear weapons
On 15 October, SIPRI and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs led the second WMD event, which took stock of the nexus between outer space and nuclear weapons. Speakers discussed ways to establish common understandings of escalation risks at this space–nuclear nexus. Nivedita Raju, Researcher in the WMD Programme, moderated the discussion. Ambassador Robert in den Bosch, Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the Conference on Disarmament, provided opening remarks. Panellists included Christopher King, Chief, WMD Branch, UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA); Mallory Stewart, Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Arms Control, Deterrence and Stability at the United States Department of State; and Tong Zhao, Senior Fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
AI for peace and security
On 18 October, SIPRI co-organized a side event with UNODA and the EU on ‘Responsible AI for Peace and Security: Meeting the Moment in Tackling the Risks Presented by Misuse of Civilian AI’. An expert panel, including Dr Vincent Boulanin, Director of SIPRI’s Governance of AI Programme, discussed how current governance efforts address the risks of civilian AI for international peace and security, and how they could be better connected to ensure effective management and mitigation of these risks. Other panellists were Chris Meserole, Executive Director of the Frontier Model Forum; Julia Stoyanovich, Associate Professor at New York University; and Kerstin Vignard, Senior Analyst, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab.
Dr Boulanin was also invited to speak at a legal review of weapons, means and methods of warfare, hosted by UNODA. The review examined, among other things, the utility of voluntary information exchanges on legal reviews.
