King Charles III has warned some of the world’s leading artificial intelligence executives about the potentially catastrophic consequences of advanced AI falling into the wrong hands, urging the industry to ensure that safety remains central to technological development.
The King issued the warning on Thursday, September 17, 2026, while hosting senior technology leaders and government representatives at Dumfries House in East Ayrshire, Scotland, for discussions on the future development and use of artificial intelligence.
Representatives from Nvidia, Google DeepMind, OpenAI and Anthropic attended the gathering, alongside Britain’s Minister for Artificial Intelligence, Kanishka Narayan, and representatives from civil society and other organisations. The meeting was facilitated by the Ditchley Foundation and focused on how AI could be developed in ways that benefit society while addressing its potential risks.
In his opening remarks, Charles acknowledged the significant benefits already associated with AI, particularly in areas such as medicine and life sciences. However, he said the rapid pace of development was also a source of concern.
The King warned that AI could develop harmful capabilities and said there was an urgent need to consider the risks if such technologies were controlled by people with harmful intentions or used in catastrophic ways.
Charles also called on the technology leaders to consider how AI could remain under meaningful human control. He posed two central questions to the participants: how the benefits of AI could be harnessed while placing safety at the centre, and how countries could build international cooperation and agreement around responsible AI development.
The summit comes as concerns over AI safety have intensified within the technology industry. Recent incidents involving advanced AI systems and warnings from researchers have fuelled debate over whether companies are developing increasingly capable systems faster than appropriate safeguards can be established.
Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang, who attended the meeting, has argued for what he describes as responsible development rather than a broad industry slowdown. He said AI systems that are not sufficiently safe should be held back until they are properly engineered and tested.
The discussion also comes amid a wider debate over regulation and independent oversight. Some AI executives and researchers have called for greater coordination between companies and governments, while others have emphasised industry-led safety testing and responsible deployment.
Charles did not single out any particular company or country in his remarks. Instead, he appealed for international cooperation and a shared approach to ensuring that technological progress remains aligned with human interests.
The King has previously spoken about the importance of responsible AI development, including in a message to the UK’s AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park in 2023. His latest intervention reflects the continuing expansion of the AI debate beyond the technology sector into questions of international cooperation, ethics and public safety.
The September 17 meeting also highlighted the growing importance of finding common principles for AI development. Organisers said discussions considered whether a shared framework could help ensure that AI advances human dignity, communities and the environment alongside technological capability.
For the technology industry, the challenge remains balancing the potential benefits of increasingly powerful AI systems with concerns about misuse, loss of control and other safety risks. Governments and international institutions are increasingly being drawn into that debate as AI capabilities continue to develop rapidly.