People who build AI

Stuart Russell

UC Berkeley computer science professor and co-author of Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach

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Portrait source: Bengt Oberger, CC BY-SA 4.0

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This is not a ban or even a moratorium in the usual sense. It’s simply a proposal to require adequate safety measures for a technology that, according to its developers, has a significant chance to cause human extinction. Is that too much to ask?

Stuart Russell

UC Berkeley computer science professor and co-author of Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach

In a 2026 Future of Life Institute release, Stuart Russell said the proposal for AI that outperforms humans at most mental tasks was a safety requirement, not a conventional ban or moratorium, and said its developers saw a significant chance of human extinction.

Professor of Computer Science, University of California, BerkeleyPublished March 27, 2026 · date of remarks not establishedPress release: Prominent Scientists, Faith Leaders, Policymakers and Artists Call for a Prohibition on Superintelligence, as Poll Shows Americans Don’t Want It

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Most people don’t want that. But that’s what these big tech companies mean when they talk about building ‘Superintelligence’.” Stuart Russell: “This is not a ban or even a moratorium in the usual sense. It’s simply a proposal to require adequate safety measures for a technology that, according to its developers, has a significant chance to cause human extinction. Is that too much to ask?” Walter Kim: “If we race to build superintelligence without clear and morally informed parameters, we risk undermining the incredible potential AI has to alleviate suffering and enable flourishing.

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The quote is supplied in an issuer press release rather than an independently preserved recording or person-authored document.
Russell provides no numeric probability and explicitly attributes the risk estimate to developers.

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Statements they signed

FROM THE SIGNED STATEMENT

Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.

Signed statement: “Statement on AI Extinction Risk” (CAIS)

Stuart Russell

UC Berkeley computer science professor and co-author of Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach

Signed as part of a group statement. Not spoken.

Stuart Russell signed the Statement on AI Extinction Risk, which says reducing the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside pandemics and nuclear war.

Professor of Computer Science, UC BerkeleyDate not establishedStatement on AI Extinction Risk

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of Cyber Security Other Notable Figures Daniela Amodei President, Anthropic Other Notable Figures David Silver Professor of Computer Science, Google DeepMind and UCL AI Scientists Lila Ibrahim COO, Google DeepMind Other Notable Figures Stuart Russell Professor of Computer Science, UC Berkeley AI Scientists Tony (Yuhuai) Wu Co-Founder, xAI AI Scientists Marian Rogers Croak VP Center for Responsible AI and Human Centered Technology, Google Other Notable Figures Andrew Barto Professor

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CAIS describes this regime as email-verified, supporting the wording that Stuart Russell signed the statement.

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FROM THE SIGNED STATEMENT

In the near future, AI may put high-consequence biological capabilities—potentially including the design of pathogens more dangerous than anything found in nature—within reach of actors who cannot access them today.

Signed statement: “IDAIS London Statement” (IDAIS)

Stuart Russell

UC Berkeley computer science professor and co-author of Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach

Signed as part of a group statement. Not spoken.

Stuart Russell was listed as a signer of the IDAIS London Statement, which recommends that states recognize the threat from AI-enabled cyberattacks and biological misuse and commit to preventing it.

Professor and Smith-Zadeh Chair in EngineeringDate not establishedIDAIS London Statement

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Institute Chair International Scientific Report on the Safety of Advanced AI Turing Award Winner Yaqin Zhang 张亚勤 Chair Professor of AI Science and Dean Institute for AI Industry Research (AIR), Tsinghua University Former President Baidu Stuart Russell Professor and Smith-Zadeh Chair in Engineering University of California, Berkeley Founder of Center for Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence (CHAI) University of California, Berkeley Craig Mundie President Mundie & Associates Fu Ying

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FROM THE SIGNED STATEMENT

Unsafe development, deployment, or use of AI systems may pose catastrophic or even existential risks to humanity within our lifetimes.

Signed statement: “IDAIS Beijing Statement” (IDAIS)

Stuart Russell

UC Berkeley computer science professor and co-author of Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach

Signed as part of a group statement. Not spoken.

Stuart Russell was listed as a signer of the IDAIS Beijing Statement, which proposes international red lines to prevent catastrophic risks from AI misuse and loss of control.

Professor and Smith-Zadeh Chair in EngineeringDate not establishedIDAIS Beijing Statement

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Scientific Report on the Safety of Advanced AI Turing Award Winner Ya-Qin Zhang 张亚勤 Chair Professor of AI Science Tsinghua University Dean of Institute for AI Industry Research (AIR) Tsinghua University Former President Baidu Fu Ying 傅莹 Stuart Russell Professor and Smith-Zadeh Chair in Engineering University of California, Berkeley Founder of Center for Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence (CHAI) University of California, Berkeley Xue Lan 薛澜 Dean, Schwarzman College Tsinghua

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FROM THE SIGNED STATEMENT

Taken together, we believe AI may pose an existential risk to humanity in the coming decades.

Signed statement: “IDAIS Oxford/Ditchley Statement” (International Dialogues on AI Safety)

Stuart Russell

UC Berkeley computer science professor and co-author of Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach

Signed as part of a group statement. Not spoken.

Stuart Russell was listed as a signer of the IDAIS Oxford/Ditchley Statement, which calls for coordinated global action to prevent uncontrolled advanced AI from posing unacceptable risks to humanity.

Professor and Smith-Zadeh Chair in EngineeringDate not establishedIDAIS Oxford/Ditchley Statement

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Sciences and College of AI Tsinghua University Yoshua Bengio Professor Université de Montréal Founder and Scientific Advisor Mila – Quebec AI Institute Chair International Scientific Report on the Safety of Advanced AI Turing Award Winner Stuart Russell Professor and Smith-Zadeh Chair in Engineering University of California, Berkeley Founder of Center for Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence (CHAI) University of California, Berkeley Ya-Qin Zhang 张亚勤 Chair Professor of AI

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FROM THE SIGNED STATEMENT

These can be weapons of terror, weapons that despots and terrorists use against innocent populations, and weapons hacked to behave in undesirable ways.

Signed statement: “2017 Open Letter to the UN CCW” (Toby Walsh/FLI)

Stuart Russell

UC Berkeley computer science professor and co-author of Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach

Signed as part of a group statement. Not spoken.

Stuart Russell was listed as a signer of the 2017 Open Letter to the UN CCW, which asks governments to prevent an arms race in lethal autonomous weapons and protect civilians from their misuse.

founder & VP of Bayesian Logic Inc., USA.Date not established2017 Open Letter to the UN CCW

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Greg Phillips, founder & CEO, ThinkIt Data Solutins, USA. Dan Reuter, founder & CEO of Electric Movement, USA. Alberto Rizzoli & Simon Edwardsson, founders & CEO of AIPoly, USA. Dan Rubins, founder & CEO of Legal Robot, USA. Stuart Russell, founder & VP of Bayesian Logic Inc., USA. Andrew Schroeder, founder of WeRobotics, USA. Stanislav Shalunov, founder & CEO of Clostra, USA Gabe Sibley & Alex Flint, founders, CEO & CPO of Zippy.ai, USA.

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FROM THE SIGNED STATEMENT

One can imagine such technology outsmarting financial markets, out-inventing human researchers, out-manipulating human leaders, and developing weapons we cannot even understand.

Signed statement: “Transcendence Looks at the Implications of AI” (Hawking, Russell, Tegmark, Wilczek)

Stuart Russell

UC Berkeley computer science professor and co-author of Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach

Signed as part of a group statement. Not spoken.

Stuart Russell co-wrote "Transcendence Looks at the Implications of AI," which says advanced AI could bring enormous benefits or catastrophic risks and calls for more work to make it safe.

computer-science professorDate not establishedTranscendence Looks at the Implications of AI

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Stephen Hawking is the director of research at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at Cambridge and a 2012 Fundamental Physics Prize laureate for his work on quantum gravity. Stuart Russell is a computer-science professor at the University of California, Berkeley and a co-author of 'Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach'.

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FROM THE SIGNED STATEMENT

AI systems must never be allowed to make life or death decisions, especially in military applications during armed conflict or peacetime, law enforcement, border control, healthcare or judicial decisions.

Signed statement: “Global Appeal for Peaceful Human Coexistence” (Rome working group)

Stuart Russell

UC Berkeley computer science professor and co-author of Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach

Signed as part of a group statement. Not spoken.

Stuart Russell helped draft the Global Appeal for Peaceful Human Coexistence, which calls for AI to remain under human control and for binding international red lines with independent enforcement.

Date not establishedGlobal Appeal for Peaceful Human Coexistence

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Yoshua Bengio 3. Ernesto Belisario 4. Abeba Birhane 5. Cornelius Boersch 6. Yuval Noah Harari 7. Geoffrey Hinton 8. Lorena Jaume-Palasí 9. Antal Kuthy 10. Riccardo Luna (Coordinator) 11. Nnenna Nwakanma 12. Valerie Pisano 13. Stuart Russell 14. Max Tegmark 15. Marco Trombetti 16. Jimena Sofía Viveros Álvarez 17. Alexander Waibel 18.

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FROM THE SIGNED STATEMENT

These systems have also begun to display self-preserving behaviours, such as attempting to blackmail developers to avoid being replaced with a new version.

Signed statement: “IDAIS Shanghai Statement” (IDAIS)

Stuart Russell

UC Berkeley computer science professor and co-author of Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach

Signed as part of a group statement. Not spoken.

Stuart Russell was listed as a signer of the IDAIS Shanghai Statement, which calls for safety guarantees, verifiable global limits, and research designed to keep advanced AI under human control.

Professor and Smith-Zadeh Chair in EngineeringDate not establishedIDAIS Shanghai Statement

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Scientific Report on the Safety of Advanced AI Turing Award Winner Ya-Qin Zhang 张亚勤 Chair Professor of AI Science Tsinghua University Dean of Institute for AI Industry Research (AIR) Tsinghua University Former President Baidu Stuart Russell Professor and Smith-Zadeh Chair in Engineering University of California, Berkeley Founder of Center for Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence (CHAI) University of California, Berkeley Fu Ying 傅莹 Xue Lan 薛澜 Dean, Schwarzman

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Was listed as a signer of “Global Call for AI Red Lines” (CeSIA, The Future Society, Berkeley CHAI)

Stuart Russell

UC Berkeley computer science professor and co-author of Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach

Signed as part of a group statement. Not spoken.

Stuart Russell was listed as a signer of the Global Call for AI Red Lines, which calls for international red lines to prevent serious and irreversible harm from AI.

Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, BerkeleyDate not establishedGlobal Call for AI Red Lines

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It is imperative that world powers act decisively to ensure it is not the last. Stuart Russell Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley The current race towards ever more capable and autonomous AI systems poses major risks to our societies and we urgently need

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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)

Stuart Russell

UC Berkeley computer science professor and co-author of Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach

Signed as part of a group statement. Not spoken.

Stuart Russell was listed as a signer of the Pro-Human AI Declaration, which calls for AI to remain under human control and serve people rather than replace them.

Professor of Computer Science, Berkeley, Director of the Center for Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence (CHAI); Co-author of the standard textbook 'Artificial Intelligence: a Modern Approach'Date not establishedPro-Human AI Declaration

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Taiwan Mike Kubzansky CEO, Omidyar Network, Professor of Computational Engineering, Rice University, Member: US National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Sciences Tomicah Tillemann President, Project Liberty Institute Stuart Russell Professor of Computer Science, Berkeley, Director of the Center for Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence (CHAI); Co-author of the standard textbook 'Artificial Intelligence: a Modern Approach' Tristan Harris Co-Founder, Center for

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FROM THE SIGNED STATEMENT

Loss of human control or malicious use of these AI systems could lead to catastrophic outcomes for all of humanity.

Signed statement: “IDAIS Venice Statement” (IDAIS)

Stuart Russell

UC Berkeley computer science professor and co-author of Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach

Signed as part of a group statement. Not spoken.

Stuart Russell was listed as a signer of the IDAIS Venice Statement, which calls for treating AI safety as a global public good and building international systems to address catastrophic AI risks.

Professor and Smith-Zadeh Chair in EngineeringDate not establishedIDAIS Venice Statement

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Zhi Institute Dean, Institute for Interdisciplinary Information Sciences and College of AI Tsinghua University Geoffrey Hinton Professor Emeritus, Department of Computer Science University of Toronto Turing Award Winner Nobel Prize Winner Stuart Russell Professor and Smith-Zadeh Chair in Engineering University of California, Berkeley Founder of Center for Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence (CHAI) University of California, Berkeley Gillian K.

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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)

Stuart Russell

UC Berkeley computer science professor and co-author of Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach

Signed as part of a group statement. Not spoken.

Stuart Russell signed Research Priorities for Robust and Beneficial AI, which calls for more research to ensure increasingly capable AI systems are robust, beneficial, and do what people want them to do.

Berkeley, Professor of Computer Science, director of the Center for Intelligent Systems, and co-author of the standard textbook Artificial Intelligence: a Modern Approach.Date not establishedResearch Priorities for Robust and Beneficial AI

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Signatories Click here to view the full list of signatories. To date, the open letter has been signed by over 8,000 people. The list of signatories includes: Prominent Signatories Stuart Russell, Berkeley, Professor of Computer Science, director of the Center for Intelligent Systems, and co-author of the standard textbook Artificial Intelligence: a Modern Approach.

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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)

Stuart Russell

UC Berkeley computer science professor and co-author of Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach

Signed as part of a group statement. Not spoken.

Stuart Russell was listed as a signer of Foresight in AI Regulation, which urges the European Commission to regulate high-risk AI with future capabilities and citizens' rights and safety in mind.

Berkeley, Professor of Computer Science, director of the Center for Intelligent Systems, and co-author of the standard textbook "Artificial Intelligence: a Modern Approach"Date not establishedForesight in AI Regulation

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Signatories Yoshua Bengio, University of Montreal, Professor of Computer Science, Scientific Director of MILA Stuart Russell, Berkeley, Professor of Computer Science, director of the Center for Intelligent Systems, and co-author of the standard textbook "Artificial Intelligence: a Modern Approach" Bart Selman, Cornell University, Professor of Computer

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