Archive · 15 Sep 2026
UN Calls for Urgent Action to Rein In AI
A United Nations official warned that very powerful artificial intelligence could create serious dangers.
He asked governments and leading AI companies to act quickly.
He said the world may be approaching changes that cannot easily be reversed.
Some AI researchers are worried that future systems could become difficult for people to control.
One researcher said there may be a chance AI could kill all humans within the next decade.
Anthropic’s leader suggested that major AI companies slow down and coordinate their work.
Elon Musk and Sam Altman publicly supported that idea.
The UN wants countries and companies to create rules based on international human rights law.
United Nations rights chief Volker Turk urged countries and frontier AI companies to act urgently on advanced artificial intelligence risks.
Turk warned that the race to develop increasingly powerful AI could create unprecedented and existential risks for humanity.
He said the world was nearing potentially irreversible changes affecting current and future generations.
The warning followed public concerns from Anthropic employees that AI could escape human control or even kill all humans.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for AI companies to coordinate a slowdown, receiving public support from Elon Musk and Sam Altman.
- Who
- United Nations rights chief Volker Turk, national governments, frontier AI companies, and industry leaders including Dario Amodei, Elon Musk, and Sam Altman.
- What
- Turk called for urgent international action to govern advanced and frontier AI models and reduce their risks.
- When
- Monday, with the warning issued amid recent public concerns about AI safety.
- Where
- Geneva; the letter was sent to countries and AI developers and shared with the media.
- Why
- Turk said the race toward increasingly powerful AI posed unprecedented and potentially existential risks to humanity and human rights.
Urgent International Oversight
Coordinated Industry Slowdown
How to respond to advanced AI
Urgent International Oversight
The United Nations rights chief called on states and companies to use multilateral forums to govern advanced AI under international human rights law.
Coordinated Industry Slowdown
AI industry leaders proposed coordinating among frontier companies to slow the development of increasingly powerful systems.
Assessment of the danger
Urgent International Oversight
Turk described the current AI race as creating unprecedented and potentially existential risks affecting every aspect of life.
Coordinated Industry Slowdown
Some AI researchers publicly expressed specific fears that future systems could escape human control or kill all humans, while the companies’ responses focused on pacing development.
- Appeal
- Volker Turk urged countries and frontier AI companies to act urgently.
- Main concern
- The race toward more powerful AI could create unprecedented and existential risks.
- Proposed framework
- Turk called for action grounded in international human rights law.
- Industry proposal
- Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called on AI companies to coordinate a slowdown in frontier development.
- Public support
- Elon Musk and Sam Altman publicly supported Amodei’s call to pace the frontier.
- Safety estimate
- An Anthropic employee publicly estimated a greater-than-10-percent chance that AI could kill all humans within the next decade.