King Charles has warned AI leaders of “existential dangers” if the technology falls into the wrong hands, saying safeguards must be established before it becomes “too late”.
The King issued the warning while hosting senior figures from Nvidia, Google DeepMind, OpenAI and Anthropic at his Dumfries House estate in Scotland on Thursday.
Charles said artificial intelligence could improve and save lives, particularly in medicine and the life sciences. But he added that its creators were increasingly warning of darker possibilities, “perhaps even to take life”.
“There seems urgency in adequately considering the existential dangers of such technologies falling into the wrong hands, and being used in potentially catastrophic ways,” he told the gathering.
“Surely, we need sufficient means of control before it is all too late?”
King Charles calls for safeguards as AI debate intensifies
The meeting took place as debate grows over whether the industry can regulate itself, amid concerns that safety measures are failing to keep pace with the development of increasingly powerful systems.
Attendees included Nvidia founder and chief executive Jensen Huang, Google DeepMind founder and chairman Demis Hassabis, OpenAI chief financial officer Sarah Friar and Britain’s minister for artificial intelligence, Kanishka Narayan.
Paolo Benanti, an adviser to Pope Leo XIV who has called for governments to slow AI development, was also expected to attend. The Pope, the King and US President Donald Trump have all intervened in the increasingly prominent discussion about the technology’s risks.
The issue has been further fuelled by warnings from two Anthropic researchers that rapidly advancing AI could lead to human extinction in the not-too-distant future. Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei has also argued that companies should slow the pace of development.
Those warnings have prompted an international debate about whether some technology executives may have ulterior motives, including seeking rules that protect the lead of particular companies, avoiding a wider government backlash or reducing spending in the race to develop AI.
The Scottish meeting is not expected to result in binding agreements. Buckingham Palace said discussions would examine whether shared principles could guide AI’s future use as a technology that protects human dignity and benefits both people and the planet.
Charles has also highlighted the potential environmental impact of artificial intelligence, continuing concerns about the natural world that he has raised over decades. His role in convening the talks reflects his efforts, first as Prince of Wales and now as King, to bring together leaders to discuss global issues.
