GENEVA: The United Nations rights chief called Monday for countries and “frontier” artificial intelligence (AI) companies to act urgently to rein in a technology he warned posed “unprecedented risks”.
In a letter sent to countries and AI developers and shared with the media, Volker Turk cautioned that the world was “on the cusp of irreversible change, affecting not just us but generations of humanity to come”.
“The current race towards ever more powerful AI is a step change towards greater existential risks to every aspect of our lives.”
We are at a watershed moment for AI. The calls by three leading tech companies to slow AI development should set all alarm bells ringing.
My call to governments and tech companies: https://t.co/1DEfQaaFFS pic.twitter.com/1JjVhv7hnO
— Volker Türk (@volker_turk) September 14, 2026
He sent the letter at a time when worries over the risks of “superintelligent” computer systems have been on full display, after a researcher publicly resigned from leading AI firm Anthropic over fears that the technology could escape human control.
I resigned from Anthropic today. I spent the last three years doing pretraining research at both OpenAI and Anthropic. Neither company is acting responsibly. They are racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives. More thoughts below.
— Jacob Coxon (@hilbertspaess) September 9, 2026
Another Anthropic employee, who did not resign, stated publicly that “we really do earnestly believe AI could kill all humans”, and that he thought the chances were greater than “10 percent within the next decade”.
Jacob is correct here—we really do earnestly believe AI could kill all humans! I personally think it is >10% within the next decade. I believe Anthropic is trying its best, but we do not yet have a plan to solve alignment for superintelligence and are not clearly on track to. https://t.co/QAIHiFP3QZ
— Evan Hubinger (@EvanHub) September 9, 2026
Amid the outcry, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called Saturday for AI companies to “pace the frontier” — or coordinate a slowdown in the technology’s development, with his chief competitors, xAI’s Elon Musk and OpenAI’s Sam Altman, publicly supporting him.
We Must Pace the Frontier: I’ve written a new essay on why the AI industry should slow down, with a three-part plan for doing so.
Anthropic is unilaterally committing to the first of these steps. We’ll provide third-party evaluators with permanent, employee-level access to our…
— Dario Amodei (@DarioAmodei) September 12, 2026
“In today’s world, we are almost entirely reliant on a small number of powerful companies to make the right choices on Al development for all of humanity,” Turk lamented.
“I call on States and companies to mobilise urgently through multilateral fora to chart a path for action to govern advanced, frontier AI models, grounded in international human rights law.”
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump on Monday attacked what he called a “sick conspiracy” against AI, rejecting calls for regulation amid mounting worries that the technology threatens humankind.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 14, 2026
Trump said the United States needed to keep the lead on AI to beat superpower rival China and slammed the boss of Claude-maker Anthropic, who had called for a slowdown.
“The only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades!” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social network.
Trump has pushed back repeatedly in the past week against a tide of warnings from tech bosses on the dangers of AI, saying US regulation would give rival Beijing the advantage.
“There is a SICK conspiracy going on against AI and Data Centers, and the only one that is happy about it is China,” Trump added in his post.
“WHOEVER WINS AI, WINS! We are leading China, and all others, and will continue to do so. Conspiracy Theorists, Treasonists, Traitors, and Leakers, BEWARE!”
Trump also attacked Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. “The Trump Administration has stopped AI ‘people’ from doing bad, or potentially bad, ‘things,’ like Dario (Anthropic!), who is now pretending to be a ‘perfect little angel’,” the US president wrote.
