King Charles III plans to ask key figures in the artificial intelligence sector to provide assurances that developers can keep their technology under control. A summit convened by King Charles III will take place in Scotland on Thursday. Attendees include Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar, Google DeepMind co‑founder Demis Hassabis and Anthropic head of public policy Tino Cuellar.
According to prepared remarks, King Charles III intends to say: “Those of us who value humanity and its vital moral component in our world seek your assurance that we will not lose control of our own destiny.” Buckingham Palace says participants will discuss how technology can be used “for the benefit of society and the natural world.”
Global debate on AI risks
The private discussion comes amid a worldwide debate over AI risks. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei recently sparked widespread discussion by calling for a slowdown in the development of advanced models in an essay. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman agreed with the essay’s conclusions, and Google DeepMind co‑founder Demis Hassabis called them “the right way forward.” Meanwhile, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has spoken out against slowing development or adding further regulation.
Over the past week, two AI researchers left Google DeepMind and Anthropic, saying the technology could pose a lethal threat.
These concerns have drawn attention from lawmakers and the public in several countries. UK Labour Party leader Andy Burnham is under pressure from members of the ruling Labour Party to provide clearer guidance on the nation’s AI policy. Chinese officials have dismissed Dario Amodei’s claims as “fear‑mongering,” while also warning about AI dangers.
Former US President Donald Trump has also spoken against slowing AI development. At the same time, legislators from both American parties have proposed measures to improve safety, and public concern about the technology is growing.
Safety and international cooperation
During the summit, King Charles is expected to pose two key questions: “First, how can we harness the benefits of AI while placing safety at the heart of this process? And second, how can we build international cooperation and reach a consensus so that no country is left behind and the future of humanity is protected?”
According to the agenda, King Charles will hold a private meeting with Jensen Huang, Demis Hassabis, Tino Cuellar and Sarah Friar, along with five other guests. Among them are Catholic theologian Paolo Benanti and British computer scientist Stuart Russell, who has been critical of tech companies. The event will also be attended by UK Minister for AI Kanishka Narayan, Cabinet Secretary Antonia Romeo and Ditchley Foundation director James Arroyo, whose organization helped host the summit.
King Charles has spoken publicly about AI before, notably at the first UK AI Safety Summit in 2023, where he warned of the urgent need to address technology‑related risks. He has also repeatedly expressed concern about climate change—a topic that may feature in questions to the tech executives.
Emissions from major tech companies have surged amid a shift to energy‑intensive data centres, some of which rely on fossil fuels. On Wednesday, the Scottish Parliament voted to tighten rules for building new data centres, requiring an environmental impact assessment for each application.
This development sets the stage for a dispute between Scotland and the UK government, as Andy Burnham has rejected the idea of a moratorium on data‑centre construction. The debate reflects global concerns about the environmental and energy costs of the data‑centre infrastructure that powers AI systems.
Source: Bloomberg
