How to Govern the Existential Risk of AI

The current state of paralysis when it comes to the governance of frontier AI technology is causing tangible harm today and raising the odds of catastrophe tomorrow. That paralysis has been excused by a dangerous set of narratives: that the technology moves too fast for oversight, that companies can self-regulate, and that in a contest between the U.S. and China, public safety can wait. Governments have struggled to give AI risks the attention they demand. Many are wary of acting alone amid both great power rivalry and intra-industry arms race dynamics. In this context, every call for restraint meets the same reply: why should we slow down if our competitor will not? It is true that there are many unknowns about the capabilities of the most powerful AI systems built to date—as well as those still under development. But what we do know is that AI derives both its strengths and its flaws from our own human intelligence, which is what, ironically, makes strict guardrails necessary. Its risks do not halt at any border, and no country can hold the line alone. We cannot wait for perfect information, nor can we wait for the rivalry between great powers to soften before we act. The need fo...