UAE and Bahrain join 20 countries in declaration calling for global AI regulation and mandatory safety testing

Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre launched the declaration "A Call for Control of Frontier AI Models" on September 21 during the UN General Assembly high-level week in New York. It received support from 22 leaders and senior officials across 20 countries, as well as the European Commission, with the UAE and Bahrain being the first Arab states to sign. The declaration proposes three areas of international action: requiring frontier model developers to implement transparent safety protocols, including mandatory pre-deployment testing and independent evaluations by qualified experts, with evaluators given sufficient access; urging governments and regional organizations to coordinate common standards, enhance transparency, and share reports on serious AI safety incidents, while helping resource-limited regions gain evaluation capacity; and asking UN member states to explore establishing an institution capable of setting standards, supporting verification, and convening countries when AI systems cross significant capability thresholds. This institutional idea remains exploratory; the declaration does not create a new body, nor does it announce a binding international treaty or implementation timeline.