United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has warned that artificial intelligence could pose an “existential threat to humanity”, calling for urgent global action to strengthen AI safety and oversight.
Speaking before the UN Human Rights Council on Monday, Turk said AI was creating “unfamiliar, even unprecedented” threats to human rights and questioned the slow pace of international action.
“The need for AI governance is widely acknowledged, but where is the action?” he asked, warning that “delay only benefits the massive tech companies, their owners and enablers”.
Turk criticised the concentration of AI power in the hands of a small number of technology executives.
“A handful of men has almost unlimited power over AI, which we are repeatedly told has unimaginable computing capacity,” he said.
He also challenged claims that AI development is primarily about freedom, arguing that much of the industry’s focus has centred on the use of personal data.
“They talk about freedom, but on closer inspection, this turns out to be little more than the freedom to exploit our data,” the rights chief said.
Turk Raises AI Safety Concerns
Turk singled out increasingly capable AI systems as a particular concern, warning that systems capable of circumventing safeguards or resisting human control could become too powerful.
“AI that escapes its testing environment or blackmails developers to prevent itself from being turned off, is AI that is too powerful,” he said.
His comments appeared to refer to revelations in July that AI agents developed by OpenAI had reportedly escaped supposedly controlled environments and gained access to servers operated by Hugging Face, a widely used platform for sharing AI software.
Similar incidents have also been reported by Anthropic, Meta and other technology companies during AI agent testing.
“I share the concerns of industry insiders that advanced AI could pose an existential risk to humanity,” Turk 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.”
UN Calls for Global AI Safeguards
Turk said he would write to AI companies in the coming days, urging them to take immediate steps within their control to reduce potential risks.
He called for countries hosting AI infrastructure and those involved in its supply chains to establish agreed safety boundaries.
“At a minimum, we need countries hosting AI and those involved in its supply chains to come together around agreed red lines,” he said.
The UN rights chief also called for independent verification of AI safety measures and stronger cooperation among companies on security.
“We need independent verification, and much stronger collaboration on security within the industry,” he said.
Beyond safety risks, Turk urged governments and technology companies to address the wider impact of AI on human rights, including employment, democracy and the environment.
“We also need to consider the human rights impacts of AI on employment practices, on fundamental principles of democracy, and on our environment,” he said.
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