London, Oct 22: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have joined dozens of global leaders, scientists, and artists in signing an open letter demanding a halt to the development of artificial “superintelligence” — AI capable of outperforming humans on nearly all tasks.
The appeal, published Wednesday by the Future of Life Institute, calls for a ban on building such systems until global scientific consensus confirms they can be developed “safely and controllably” with strong public support. The signatories say that unregulated AI progress could threaten civil liberties, democracy, and even human survival.
“Many leading AI companies have the stated goal of building superintelligence within the next decade,” the letter warns. “This has raised concerns ranging from human economic obsolescence and loss of freedom to potential extinction.”
In a statement accompanying the letter, Prince Harry said, “The future of AI should serve humanity, not replace it… there is no second chance.” His wife Meghan also signed the letter.
Prominent signatories include AI researchers Yoshua Bengio and Geoffrey Hinton, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Richard Branson, former U.S. national security adviser Susan Rice, and artists Stephen Fry and will.i.am. The list also includes conservative commentators Steve Bannon and Glenn Beck, in a bid to broaden bipartisan support.
“This isn’t about stopping innovation,” said Berkeley computer scientist Stuart Russell. “It’s about requiring basic safety precautions for a technology that some of its own creators admit could wipe out humanity.”
Max Tegmark of MIT, who led the initiative, said the growing coalition shows the debate around AI safety is no longer confined to technical experts. “The criticism has gone very mainstream,” he noted, adding that while hype around AI remains strong, its rapid advancement has outpaced most predictions.
The Future of Life Institute previously led a similar campaign in 2023 urging a temporary pause in AI model development — a call that went unheeded by major tech firms. “Developers are trapped in a race to the bottom,” Tegmark said. “That’s why it’s so important to stigmatise the rush toward superintelligence before it’s too late.”
