International calls for stricter AI regulations and personal liability for tech executives

In addition to the initiators from Finland and Norway, the first signatories of the call include, for example, Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU), Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

Civil rights activists, however, criticize the plan as too hesitant and are instead calling for harsh punishments against the executives of leading technology companies.

“Leading scientists and executives warn that the pace of development may outpace our ability to manage emerging risks,” the letter also says. AI must therefore remain under human management, supervision and control and be in accordance with international law.

A three-point plan for global protection standards

The paper formulates three central demands:

Manufacturers must take comprehensible security precautions and allow independent experts to carry out comprehensive checks before releasing new programs.

In addition, governments should create uniform guidelines and report serious incidents to each other.

Finally, the signatories call on the states of the United Nations to consider setting up a global body that sets binding standards, carries out controls and calls states together as soon as certain performance limits are exceeded.

In addition to Canada and European countries, Australia, Kenya, Singapore and South Africa have joined, among others. The USA and China, the technologically leading powers in the field of AI, are still missing. However, the declaration remains open to further signatories.

Civil rights activists are calling for personal punishments for corporate bosses

Clear criticism of the initiative comes from the Berlin civil rights organization AlgorithmWatch, which warns against time-consuming bogus solutions. We welcome the effort to avert dangers to society, said managing director Matthias Spielkamp. What politicians overlook, however, is that it is not the control of a technology that is lost, but rather the control over the companies that produce it. Negotiating a global agreement would take years, while the corporations could continue undeterred.

Spielkamp said that the European Union and the American government could hold leading providers accountable today if they consistently enforce existing European legislation and existing laws against computer attacks and hold developers liable. If the CEOs were threatened with prison sentences or their companies were threatened with financial penalties running into billions, the irresponsible behavior would quickly come to an end.