Govts, tech firms vow to cooperate against AI risks at Seoul summit

Seoul, South Korea: More than a dozen countries and some of the world s biggest tech firms pledged on Wednesday to cooperate against the potential dan...

Seoul, South Korea: More than a dozen countries and some of the world's biggest tech firms pledged on Wednesday to cooperate against the potential dangers of artificial intelligence, including its ability to dodge human control, as they wrapped up a global summit in Seoul.

AI safety was front and centre of the agenda at the two-day gathering. In the latest declaration, more than two dozen countries including the United States and France agreed to work together against threats from cutting-edge AI, including "severe risks".

Such risks could include an AI system helping "non-state actors in advancing the development, production, acquisition or use of chemical or biological weapons", said a joint statement from the nations.

These dangers also include an AI model that could potentially "evade human oversight, including through safeguard circumvention, manipulation and deception, or autonomous replication and adaptation", they added.

The ministers' statement followed a commitment on Tuesday by some of the biggest AI companies, including ChatGPT maker OpenAI and Google DeepMind, to share how they assess the risks of their tech, including what is considered "intolerable".