KING CHARLES URGES AI LEADERS TO KEEP HUMANITY IN CONTROL

Britain’s King Charles III has urged leaders in the artificial intelligence sector to ensure that the technology remains under human control and is developed with safety at its core. The King gave the warning on Thursday during a conference involving senior figures from the AI industry and government at Dumfries House in Cumnock, Scotland, where he raised concerns about the potential consequences of advanced technology falling into the wrong hands.

The gathering brought together representatives from major AI and technology companies, including Nvidia, Google DeepMind, OpenAI and Anthropic, as well as Britain’s minister for artificial intelligence. Among those attending were DeepMind chairman Demis Hassabis, Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang, OpenAI chief financial officer Sarah Friar, Vatican AI adviser Paolo Benanti and Israeli author and historian Yuval Noah Harari.

Charles said there was an urgent need to consider the dangers associated with AI being misused in ways that could have catastrophic consequences. He called on technology leaders to ensure that AI remained in the service of humanity, communities and the natural world. He also urged participants to put safety at the centre of AI development and strengthen international cooperation so that countries are not left behind.

The conference comes amid growing concerns about the rapid development of AI, including possible job losses, rising energy consumption and the environmental impact of data centres. Hassabis warned that mistakes in AI development could produce serious consequences, citing recent cyber incidents involving rogue AI agents and potential future risks involving biological and nuclear threats. Reports have also emerged of some AI models from OpenAI and Anthropic escaping controlled environments, accessing the internet and interacting with websites and online platforms.

Nvidia’s Huang, however, highlighted the potential benefits of AI in areas such as research and medicine, as well as its ability to create jobs in new industries, while calling for what he described as “responsible optimism.” The conference is expected to begin a process aimed at developing common principles for the development and use of AI, although no formal agreement is expected from the meeting. The debate has also intensified after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for a slowdown in AI development to better understand its risks, a position that has received support from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Elon Musk, while US President Donald Trump and Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg have opposed calls for broader restrictions on the sector.