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AI Could Pose 'Existential' Risk to Humanity, UN Rights Chief Warns

Volker Türk urged binding AI safety rules and independent verification after incidents showed frontier systems may be outpacing safeguards, Reuters reported.

  • On Monday in Geneva, United Nations rights chief Volker Turk warned that artificial intelligence could pose an "existential threat to humanity," demanding immediate global action to reduce the risks.
  • Speaking before the Human Rights Council, Turk stated that humans currently face "unfamiliar, even unprecedented" threats to their rights, while a handful of men hold "almost unlimited power over AI."
  • Citing incidents at Meta, Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google, Turk warned that AI capable of blackmailing developers "is AI that is too powerful," echoing concerns from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
  • Turk plans to write to AI companies in coming days, urging them to "take the steps that are within their control to reduce risks now" while countries must "come together around agreed red lines."
  • The United Nations held its first governance meeting in July to address AI risks, yet Turk questioned where action is, warning that "delay only benefits the massive tech companies, their owners and enablers.
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UN expresses concern and calls for urgent regulation of artificial intelligence, given the increase in unforeseen behaviors in advanced systems

·Los Angeles, United States
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ReutersReuters
+9 Reposted by 9 other sources
Center

AI could pose 'existential' risk to humanity, UN rights chief warns

U.N. rights chief Volker Turk pledged to press AI firms to reduce risks that his office said included disruptions ‌to services, communications and democratic systems.

·London, United Kingdom
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Al-Monitor broke the news in Washington, United States on Monday, September 7, 2026.
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