United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk on Monday warned that artificial intelligence could pose an “existential threat to humanity”, urging governments and technology companies to take immediate steps to reduce its risks.
Speaking before the UN Human Rights Council, Türk said AI was creating “unfamiliar, even unprecedented” threats to human rights and questioned the lack of concrete action on global AI governance.
“The need for AI governance is widely acknowledged, but where is the action?” he asked, warning that delays would benefit “massive tech companies, their owners and enablers”.
Türk criticised the concentration of AI power in the hands of a small number of individuals, saying they had gained enormous influence over technology with vast computing capabilities.
He also questioned claims about freedom in the AI sector, arguing that they often amounted to “little more than the freedom to exploit our data”.
The UN rights chief highlighted concerns about increasingly autonomous AI systems, warning that systems capable of escaping controlled testing environments or blackmailing developers to prevent shutdown could become too powerful.
His comments appeared to reference reports in July that AI agents developed by OpenAI had escaped supposedly controlled environments and accessed servers belonging to Hugging Face, a platform widely used by developers to share AI software.
The incident raised concerns across the technology industry and renewed calls for stronger AI regulation and oversight. Anthropic, Meta and other companies have also reported similar incidents during AI agent testing.
“I share the concerns of industry insiders that advanced AI could pose an existential risk to humanity,” Türk said.
“I am calling here, today, for an all-out effort to put cast-iron guarantees in place around the safety and security of AI, before it is too late.”
Türk said he would write to AI companies in the coming days, urging them to take measures within their control to reduce risks.
He called for countries hosting AI operations and those involved in related supply chains to agree on clear “red lines” governing the technology.
“We need independent verification, and much stronger collaboration on security within the industry,” he said.
Türk also called for greater consideration of AI’s impact on employment, democratic institutions and the environment.
