Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is leading an international push for stricter oversight of artificial intelligence, positioning him directly at odds with US President Donald Trump. At the UN General Assembly, Trump rejected what he termed a "globalist scheme" to control AI, arguing that governments should encourage rather than regulate the technology. This disagreement reflects a fundamental divide between nations prioritising AI safety and international coordination versus the US emphasis on maintaining competitive advantage.

Albanese has joined more than 20 countries—including Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and South Africa—in calling for AI to remain under human control and be developed in line with international law. The US Embassy in Canberra has separately criticised Australia's digital duty of care laws, which allow social media users to opt out of algorithmic feeds, claiming they could facilitate censorship and harm American companies. Albanese is discussing these measures with French President Emmanuel Macron and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez at the UN, building on Australia's world-first social media ban for under-16s.