From 22 July – 2 August, diplomats and governments were in Geneva to assess and make recommendations for the full implementation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, at the second Preparatory Committee of the 2026 Review Conference. The European Leadership Network was well represented. Several...
Listen to the fifth episode of the NEVER podcast – Ok, Doomer! In this episode, we explore artificial intelligence and its relationship with existential risk. Featuring an introduction to the topic, why we should be especially wary when integrating AI with nuclear weapons systems, the role of AI in arms control, how best to regulate AI on the global level and what international institutions are best placed to do so, as well as historical perspectives on technological change and its impact on our cultural understandings of existential risk.
Today, the European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act comes into force. NEVER member and Digital Policy Consultant Julie Lübken argues that the EU’s AI Act, pre-dating similar efforts to regulate AI in the UK and the US, could lay the groundwork for global AI governance. She writes that the legislation should also mark the start of a discussion with other countries, such as China, for a worldwide effort, engaging with policymakers, businesses, and civil society, to better understand AI, harness its potential and mitigate risk.
Janika Schmitt is a Fellow at the Institute for Progress, an innovation policy think tank in Washington, D.C. Her research focuses on policies and technologies that prevent and mitigate future pandemics, including topics like biosurveillance and biological research security. Additionally, she...
Listen to the fourth episode of the NEVER podcast – Ok, Doomer! In this episode, we explore biological existential and global catastrophic risks. Featuring an introduction to the topic and an exploration of some of the technological mitigation techniques we have available for biological risks, a panel discussion exploring the current state of the international governance of biological risks, and we will also delve into whether humanity’s recent brush with COVID-19 has better or worse prepared us for future pandemics, be they man-made or natural.
As more attention is paid to geoengineering technologies that claim to mitigate the existential risks posed by climate change, Jakob Gomolka, from our New European Voices on Existential Risk (NEVER) network, argues that policymakers needs to understand the geopolitical implications of these technologies, let alone their climatic side-effects, and calls for more alignment in the international governance of geoengineering technologies.