Even the King of England has his hesitations about AI

King Charles hosted a private summit on Thursday, bringing together leading figures in AI and representatives from the UK government, including Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman, Anthropic's Dario Amodei, and the UK’s new AI minister Kanishka Narayan. Notably, the head of the UK’s foreign intelligence service, Paolo Benanti, who advises the pope on AI, was also present.

The King’s remarks at the summit were significant due to the royal family's usual caution around political matters, given AI’s contentious nature.

The King expressed his concern about the rapid advancement of AI, urging the leaders present to find a way to control it "before it's too late." He emphasized that while AI shows immense potential to improve and save lives in areas like medicine and science, there are growing warnings from creators that AI might develop darker capacities.

This concern followed an Anthropic researcher's departure, stating that AI companies were "racing to build machines that are much smarter than any human" and questioned humanity's survival with such technology. The King emphasized the urgency of considering the "existential dangers" of AI falling into the wrong hands or being used in catastrophic ways, questioning the need for adequate control measures.

King Charles concluded by urging the leaders to harness the positive aspects of AI while ensuring it remains in service to humanity, community, and the natural world, stating, "As we embrace what is new, we must not lose what is timeless." The summit lasted about 20 minutes, after which the guests discussed the issues among themselves.

OpenAI sent CFO Sarah Frail, while Anthropic's global affairs leader, Tino Cuéllar, participated. Cuéllar expressed the company's gratitude for the opportunity to discuss AI's role in serving the public good.

King Charles has previously spoken about AI's challenges and benefits in 2023 and 2024. However, this summit is especially relevant as AI continues to influence every industry and conversation. Recently, Sam Altman, Elon Musk, and Dario Amodei called for a slowdown in AI development, but Nvidia’s Huang and former President Donald Trump rejected these calls, highlighting the complex interplay between Big Tech, politics, and society in the AI race.