(Reuters) – A group including right-wing U.S. media personalities such as Steve Bannon and Glenn Beck has signed a statement calling for a ban on the development of superintelligent artificial intelligence until the public calls for it and science clears a safe path forward, according to the initiative’s organizers.
The proposal, also signed by technology pioneers Geoffrey Hinton and Yoshua Bengio, is the latest initiative organized by the Future of Life Institute, which for more than a decade has been raising concerns about the risk that intelligent machines pose to humanity.
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The institute, founded in 2014, was supported from the beginning by Tesla chief executive Elon Musk and programmer and technology investor Jaan Tallinn.
Many names in the technology industry and the US government have opposed such pauses, arguing that the concerns are unwarranted and harm innovation and economic growth.
Still, support from figures like Bannon reflects the populist right’s growing discomfort with AI at a time when many people with ties to Silicon Valley hold influential positions in US President Donald Trump’s administration.
Steve Bannon and Glenn Beck did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Other signatories of the statement include Apple co-founder (), former Irish president Mary Robinson and Virgin Group founder, the institute said.
(Reporting by Jeffrey Dastin in San Francisco; additional reporting by Chandni Shah in Bengaluru)
