King Charles III has urged leaders of major artificial intelligence companies to ensure that rapidly advancing AI remains under human control and serves society rather than creating new risks.
The King made the remarks during a high-level meeting at Dumfries House in Scotland, attended by senior figures from Nvidia, Google DeepMind, OpenAI and Anthropic, along with UK officials and representatives from the Vatican.
Charles said AI has significant potential to improve and save lives, particularly in medicine and the life sciences. But he also pointed to warnings from people developing the technology that increasingly capable AI systems could acquire dangerous capabilities.
He called for safeguards to be established before potentially harmful systems fall into the wrong hands, asking whether there are sufficient means of controlling the technology before it is too late.
The King said people are seeking reassurance that AI will not undermine human control over their future. He posed two central questions to those attending the meeting: how the benefits of AI can be developed with safety at its core, and how countries can cooperate on common standards so that technological progress does not leave people behind.
Among those attending were Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Google DeepMind chairman Demis Hassabis, OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar and Anthropic Chief Global Affairs Officer Tino Cuéllar. British AI Minister Kanishka Narayan also took part.
Huang said AI development should be guided by what he called “responsible optimism” and argued that companies should be rigorous in determining whether systems are ready for release. He said developers should hold back products that are not sufficiently prepared.
The meeting comes amid growing debate over AI safety and whether companies should regulate themselves or face stronger government oversight. Recent warnings from AI researchers and industry figures have added to concerns about the risks posed by increasingly autonomous systems.
Charles said the decisions being made now will influence the world inherited by future generations. He urged the industry to ensure that technological development remains “firmly in the service of humanity, community and the natural world.”
