Mark Brakel, Global Director of Policy at the Future of Life Institute (FLI), issued the following statement in response to government leaders’ call to manage AI risk internationally:

“Today, for the first time, heads of state recognise that the risks of AI cannot be managed by the companies alone. Every day, new incidents of increasing severity show that there is an urgent and vital need for independent, binding oversight of AI.

“Last week, Anthropic CEO Amodei and OpenAI CEO OpenAI proposed on-site inspectors to test the safety of their systems, and world leaders have called for the creation of an international governance institution. These are excellent first steps, but we need more – and they absolutely must not include governments building a liability shield for these companies. 

“As UN Human Rights Chief Türk has urged, countries should put pressure on companies to immediately limit the use of recursive self improvement until the research to make it safe has been done. In parallel, countries should ramp up investment in hardware verification technology that can enable a future international AI deal involving both China and the U.S. 

“It is now more clear than ever that private AI companies cannot be trusted to police themselves. Government intervention is urgently required to halt the ongoing race-to-replace, and help build a prohuman future with AI for everyone.”