NEW YORK (AP) — Prince Harry warned Wednesday at the Clinton Global Initiative that artificial intelligence chatbots designed to provide companionship are even more dangerous to young people than social media.
“The technology is more persuasive, more intimate, and more powerful,” the Duke of Sussex said. “AI is learning how to enter our relationships. It doesn’t just want your attention, it wants your attachment.”
In 2024, Harry sounded the alarm at CGI about how social media has contributed to an “epidemic” of anxiety, depression and social isolation among today’s youth. Harry and his wife, Meghan, announced the founding of The Parents Network, through their Archewell Foundation.
Harry said that The Parents Network had made progress, but that technological developments had made an already “uphill battle” more difficult.
“There are major signals that families, young people, experts and advocates have finally shaken institutions awake to the reality that this technology can cause harm,” Harry said. “But bans, settlements and payouts are incomplete remedies.”
Last month Meta agreed to pay up to $18 billion and add stronger child-safety measures to its Facebook and Instagram platforms as part of a landmark legal settlement that ended a trial over teen social media addiction and settled claims filed by nearly every state.
The settlement resolved a pivotal case years in the making that sought to hold the tech giant accountable for the role its platforms played in undermining children’s mental health. The effort targeted features designed to hook young people’s attention.
Wednesday marked Prince Harry's first public appearance in the United States since he and his family returned to England in August for an extended stay.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also discussed the potential dangers of AI at the conference, adding that addressing risk through international agreements is something that President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping should discuss this week.
Trump is hosting Xi in Washington this week as their economic and tech competition is only escalating, especially through an artificial intelligence race. Neither expects any grand bargain, but the leaders are expected to play nice in their third meeting since Trump returned to the White House. Still, developing AI technology has emerged as a key battleground, with both sides showing little interest in slowing down despite warnings from tech CEOs about threats that rogue AI could pose to humanity.
Speaking at CGI, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman said that he believes a proposed kill switch, which would require developers to have the capacity to shut down their systems if needed, is a good idea.
“It’s not a natural thing for a company to put in, so it’s a good intervention,” he said.
Former President Bill Clinton opened this year’s CGI on Tuesday with a call for business and philanthropic leaders to work toward filling funding gaps caused by “ retreating governments.”
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Britain's Prince Harry meets with winner of the Inspirational Child 4-6, Margot Jones-Billington during the WellChild Awards 2026 in London, Monday, Sept. 21, 2026. (Aaron Chown/Pool Photo via AP)
Britain's Prince Harry meets the winner of the Inspirational Young Person 15-18, Rosanna Cornforth-Revill, during the WellChild Awards 2026 in London, Monday, Sept. 21, 2026. (Aaron Chown/Pool Photo via AP)
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Iran’s president said Wednesday that his people have been “victims of terrorism” by the United States, delivering a rare wartime speech at U.N. General Assembly a day after President Donald Trump said he could “annihilate” the Islamic republic.
In a defiant speech, President Masoud Pezeshkian held up large photos of the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the more than 150 school Iranian children killed on the first days of the war.
“We have only defended ourselves. We are not terrorists,” Pezeshkian said at the General Assembly. “Our innocent people have been the targets of cowardly attacks and aggressions imposed upon our country. And we defended ourselves with utmost strength. America and Israel attacked us.”
He added of the United States: “Yes they did hit us, but we did not bend the knee.” Toward the end of his speech, Pezeshkian called out Trump by name.
“It must be understood by Mr. Trump and those who seek to bully us that we are ready for dialogue and diplomacy and negotiations without accepting the language of force,” he said.
He also said one thing that was measurably false: "We did not hit civilian populations.” Mariners and migrant workers in the region have been among the civilians killed in Iran’s attacks since the war began.
Arriving in New York under heavy security and scrutiny, Pezeshkian — who, within Iran’s political landscape, is considered a moderate politician — addressed world leaders a day after Trump used the same stage to suggest he may “annihilate” the Islamic Republic if a deal isn’t reached soon to end the nearly seven-month war.
Hours later, Trump told reporters that his chief envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, met for about three hours with the Iranian officials on the sidelines of the annual gathering. But he offered few details about how the discussions transpired or the substance of the exchange.
“It was a very good meeting,” Trump said. The president later added that the Iranian officials were “not the highest level, but it’s something.” Also on Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump is open to meeting with Pezeshkian while he’s in New York.
But Tehran downplayed Tuesday's unscheduled exchange, which were the first indirect talks between U.S. and Iranian officials since a June ceasefire unraveled. Esmail Baghaei, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, maintained the country's negotiating position in talks with U.S. officials, demanding that Washington end its blockade of Iranian ports and release frozen Iranian assets,
Baghaei said the talks — conducted indirectly through Qatari mediators — were “not anything new.”
Pezeshkian's address elaborated on where Tehran stands as more than a year of start-stop negotiations between the two longtime adversaries have failed to produce a sustainable solution. His speech came as intermittent attacks continued in the Strait of Hormuz off Iran’s coast, where commercial shipping remained below prewar levels.
His address last year came months after the 12-day Israel-Iran war that saw the assassination of many of the Islamic Republic’s highest military and political leaders and once again broke down weeks of negotiations with the United States.
“Ladies and gentlemen, you all bore witness that this past June, my country was subjected to a savage aggression and flagrant contravention of the most elementary principles of international law,” Pezeshkian said at the time.
Demonstrators against the Iranian regime protest outside of the United Nations headquarters during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Madison Swart)
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
The front pages of Iranian newspapers show portraits of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, and headlines regarding the Shajareh Tayyebeh school that was hit in a Feb. 28 U.S. airstrike in Minab, at a square in northern Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
In this photo released by the Iranian Presidency Office, President Masoud Pezeshkian waves to media and officials as he boards his plane while leaving Mehrabad airport for New York to attend the UN General Assembly, in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP)
