King Charles Urges AI Leaders to Keep Technology Under Control at Scotland Summit

King Charles III on Thursday called on senior figures from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind and Nvidia to ensure artificial intelligence remains under control and serves people and the planet.

The gathering in Scotland brought together executives including Nvidia President and CEO Jensen Huang and Google DeepMind chairman and co-founder Demis Hassabis. The king asked those attending to consider the "fundamental principles" that should guide the development of AI.

The meeting took place at a pivotal moment for the technology, as debate continues over whether rapid advances could soon place it beyond human ability to restrain.

Addressing the gathering, Hassabis said two broad categories of risk need to be mitigated. The first is misalignment, where an AI system does not follow instructions or finds ways around its guardrails. The second is misuse, in which a bad actor repurposes a general-purpose technology built with good intent for harmful ends.

He said both risks can be addressed, while acknowledging that the technology is new and carries many unknowns and uncertainties — including matters that even leading scientists in the field do not yet fully understand. The chance of something bad happening accidentally if things are got wrong is "definitely non-zero", he said, adding that the risks should be taken very seriously.

Hassabis also struck an optimistic note, describing himself as a huge believer in human ingenuity and expressing confidence that the technical problems can be solved collectively — but only if society gives itself the time and space to get it right. He stressed the need for careful thought and considered approaches grounded in rigorous scientific methods.

"So the future is not yet written," he said. "We must all lean in and use this precious window to shape this technology for the benefit of all humanity. And what we collectively do now will determine the next era and the next chapter of civilization."

He added that safely stewarding artificial general intelligence into the world could open a new golden age of scientific discovery and progress.

The event also saw the king greeting participants and joining a group photograph.