King Charles joins AI battle: Monarch to meet with artificial intelligence companies as tech fears mount
The monarch is set to host top ranking execs from Nvidia, Google, DeepMind, OpenAI and Anthropic amid fears that the technology’s rapid development could endanger humanity.
King Charles will host major players from leading AI and tech companies Nvidia, Google, Deepmind, OpenAI and Anthropic in Scotland as widespread fears continue to mount that the uncontrolled growth of artificial intelligence could have major ramifications for mankind.
The New York Times reports that the monarch has invited leaders from those companies along with high-ranking representatives from government to Dumfries House in southwest Scotland in order “to discuss how AI can be developed and deployed in ways that benefit society”, according to a Buckingham Palace statement.
The summit comes as alarms have been raised by chief execs and insiders at major Artificial Intelligence companies about the rapid - and largely uncontrolled - development of the technology and what it could mean for humans and the globe if it is allowed to continue without any guardrails.
Sign up to The Nightly's newsletters.
Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.The statement from Buckingham Palace said the meeting with the King would emphasise the beneficial nature of the technology to “strengthen communities and improve lives”.
The statement however, did not mention the names of the AI companies’ representatives with Anthropic, DeepMind, Google and Nvidia failing to confirm their representation with the Times. Only OpenAI did so, confirming that its chief financial officer Sarah Friar would be at the summit.
News of the summit came just days after OpenAI chief Sam Altman joined the tech industry’s calls to put brakes on the unchecked growth of technology, citing his concerns for the safety of humanity for ruling out a possible trillion-dollar IPO for the highly regarded tech outfit.
US lawmakers have also urged new rules to govern AI systems after dire warnings from two researchers from OpenAI rival Anthropic that rapidly progressing AI could lead to the extinction of the human race in the not-too-distant future.
“I actually think that, given everything happening with safety, right now would be an ill-advised moment to go public, and we don’t feel pressure on that,” Altman told business magazine Fortune on Saturday.
Asked if there was a 10 per cent chance of AI-driven extinction, Altman said he didn’t know how such an estimate could be made, but warned the risk was serious enough that AI companies and governments should act as though it could not be tolerated.
“Whether it’s 10 or eight or six, the point is, we all have a tremendous amount of responsibility, and cannot let egos or incentives for profit or anything else get in the way,” Altman added.
“We need to act such that we are not taking any of those numbers of risk, and I believe we can.”
Politicians have responded with alarm and called for more action after cases of AI agents going rogue to hack external systems and AI safety researchers quitting their companies out of concern at the technology risks.
In June, the New York Times said San Francisco-based OpenAI was considering whether to hold off until 2027 on a potentially trillion-dollar IPO.
Asked by Fortune if an IPO date of 2026 was off the table in favour of 2027, Altman said, “I would say not 2026”.
“We got a lot of stuff to do, like meeting this moment of what is going to be required for safety and alignment, and how the industry and governments can work together.”
with AAP
