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Jaan Tallinn

Skype co-founder, investor, and Future of Life Institute founder

6 records

Portrait source: Stimqdrmtmob, CC BY-SA 3.0

Records

No autonomous weapon should be designed or used to target a human, nor should it be used to distinguish between one human and another.

Jaan Tallinn

Skype co-founder, investor, and Future of Life Institute founder

In a Vienna conference keynote, Jaan Tallinn said no autonomous weapon should be designed or used to target a person or distinguish between people.

Estonian computer programmerDate not establishedHumanity at a Crossroads: Autonomous Weapons Conference, Vienna

SourceArchived
Context and checks

Surrounding words

Accidental errors caused by autonomous weapons have the potential to spark the kinds of wars that should never be waged. No autonomous weapon should be designed or used to target a human, nor should it be used to distinguish between one human and another. However, even when autonomous weapons become able to perfectly distinguish between humans, they will make it significantly easier to carry out genocides and targeted killings that seek specific human characteristics.

What this quote does not say

  • Later in the speech, Tallinn says he is more optimistic that the autonomous-weapons race can be stopped because more than 115 countries want binding rules; this qualifies his outlook but reinforces the policy endorsement.
  • Tallinn says a treaty would still permit defensive countermeasures such as jammers, lasers, and missile-defence systems.

How this was checked

  • Quote matched character-for-character against the captured page.

Reviewed by

an AI reviewer that read the whole source · an automatic character-by-character check

Statements they signed

FROM THE SIGNED STATEMENT

Half of AI researchers estimate more than a 10% chance that AI could lead to human extinction or a similarly catastrophic curtailment of humanity's potential.

Signed statement: “Urging an International AI Treaty” (Tolga Bilge/AI Treaty team)

Jaan Tallinn

Skype co-founder, investor, and Future of Life Institute founder

Signed as part of a group statement. Not spoken.

Jaan Tallinn signed “Urging an International AI Treaty,” which calls for an international treaty to reduce catastrophic AI risks from misuse, systemic failures, and loss of control.

Co-Founder of Skype, Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, Future of Life InstituteDate not establishedUrging an International AI Treaty

SourceArchived
Context and checks

Surrounding words

1998); Director, Office of Iraq Affairs, US State Department (2016); Director, Office of Weapons of Mass Destruction Terrorism, US State Department (2013-2016); Senior Advisor, US State Department, Bureau of Energy Diplomacy (2017) - Jaan Tallinn Co-Founder of Skype, Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, Future of Life Institute - Claire Boucher Artist - Huw PriceDistinguished Professor Emeritus, University of Bonn, Emeritus Bertrand Russell Professor & Emeritus Fellow of

What this quote does not say

  • The roster's wording after Jaan Tallinn's name is “Co-Founder of Skype, Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, Future of Life Institute.”

How this was checked

  • The organiser's own roster lists this person as a signer.

Reviewed by

an AI reviewer that read the whole source

FROM THE SIGNED STATEMENT

Like drugs, chatbots must undergo pre-deployment testing for increased suicidal ideation, exacerbation of mental health disorders, escalation of acute crisis situations, and other known harms.

Signed statement: “Pro-Human AI Declaration” (FLI/broad coalition)

Jaan Tallinn

Skype co-founder, investor, and Future of Life Institute founder

Signed as part of a group statement. Not spoken.

Jaan Tallinn was listed as a signer of the Pro-Human AI Declaration, which says AI should serve humanity and remain under human control.

Cofounder, Future of Life InstituteDate not establishedPro-Human AI Declaration

SourceArchived
Context and checks

Surrounding words

Italy Mulya van Roon Founder, The Responsible AI Center Sarah Koschny Student, University of Wollongong Gustaf Graf Software Developer, onyo James Dashiell roméo Hennion CEO, GameFlow Flavio Bordignon President, Dorg Society Foundation Jaan Tallinn Cofounder, Future of Life Institute Ramana Kumar former Research Scientist, Google DeepMind Marco Bani Head of institutional Affiar - Democratic Party, Italian Senate Steve Omohundro Founder, Beneficial AI Research Sergio Lopez Figueroa

What this quote does not say

  • The public-endorsement regime does not document identity verification or Tallinn's listing date; roster observed 2026-08-19; signing date unknown.

How this was checked

  • The organiser's own roster lists this person as a signer.

Reviewed by

an AI reviewer that read the whole source

FROM THE SIGNED STATEMENT

It could bring risks, including large-scale job displacement, as well as opportunities such as major gains in living standards.

Signed statement: “We Must Act Now” (Stanford Digital Economy Lab/economists)

Jaan Tallinn

Skype co-founder, investor, and Future of Life Institute founder

Signed as part of a group statement. Not spoken.

Jaan Tallinn was listed as a signer of “We Must Act Now,” which called for guardrails and institutions to steer powerful AI toward complementing people and benefiting society.

Date not establishedWe Must Act Now

SourceArchived
Context and checks

Surrounding words

Myerson, University of Chicago* Paul Krugman, Graduate Center of the City University of New York* Ben Bernanke, Brookings Institution* Robert J. Shiller, Yale University* Pascual Restrepo, Yale University Jaan Tallinn, University of Cambridge Daniel Susskind, Gresham College Yoshua Bengio, Université de Montréal, LawZero and Mila Gillian Hadfield, Johns Hopkins University Raffaella Sadun, Harvard Business School Tyler Cowen, George Mason

How this was checked

  • The organiser's own roster lists this person as a signer.

Reviewed by

an AI reviewer that read the whole source

FROM THE SIGNED STATEMENT

We recommend expanded research aimed at ensuring that increasingly capable AI systems are robust and beneficial: our AI systems must do what we want them to do.

Signed statement: “Research Priorities for Robust and Beneficial AI” (FLI)

Jaan Tallinn

Skype co-founder, investor, and Future of Life Institute founder

Signed as part of a group statement. Not spoken.

Jaan Tallinn signed “Research Priorities for Robust and Beneficial AI,” an open letter calling for expanded research to ensure increasingly capable AI systems are robust, beneficial, and do what people want them to do.

co-founder of Skype, CSER and FLIDate not establishedResearch Priorities for Robust and Beneficial AI

SourceArchived
Context and checks

Surrounding words

Analytics, AI researcher Alexander Wissner-Gross, Harvard, Fellow at the Institute for Applied Computational Science Adrian Weller, Cambridge, AI researcher Jacob Steinhardt, Stanford, AI Ph.D. student Nick Hay, Berkeley, AI Ph.D. student Jaan Tallinn, co-founder of Skype, CSER and FLI Elon Musk, SpaceX, Tesla Motors Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Luke Nosek, Founders Fund Aaron VanDevender, Founders Fund Erik Brynjolfsson, MIT, Professor at and director of MIT Initiative on the

How this was checked

  • The organiser's own roster lists this person as a signer.

Reviewed by

an AI reviewer that read the whole source

FROM THE SIGNED STATEMENT

What do we do with software agents that replace people in their jobs or impersonate people in their interactions?

Signed statement: “Foresight in AI Regulation” (FLI)

Jaan Tallinn

Skype co-founder, investor, and Future of Life Institute founder

Signed as part of a group statement. Not spoken.

Jaan Tallinn was listed as a signer of Foresight in AI Regulation, which asks the European Commission to take a future-oriented approach to regulating AI's effects on EU citizens' rights and safety.

co-founder of Centre for Study of Existential RiskDate not establishedForesight in AI Regulation

SourceArchived
Context and checks

Surrounding words

University Clermont Auvergne, France, Professor Huw Price, University of Cambridge, Bertrand Russell Professor of Philosophy, Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence, co-founder of the Center for the Study of Existential Risk Jaan Tallinn, co-founder of Centre for Study of Existential Risk Olle Häggström, Chalmers University of Technology, Professor of Mathematical Statistics José Hernández-Orallo, Professor at the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, Spain, and Associate

How this was checked

  • The organiser's own roster lists this person as a signer.

Reviewed by

an AI reviewer that read the whole source