AI 'Godfather' Bengio Sees Covid-Style Reckoning on Tech Regulation

Yoshua Bengio, one of the "godfathers" of AI, believes governments are approaching a turning point on AI safety similar to the early days of the Covid pandemic.

The Canadian computer scientist pointed to recent incidents, including a "swarm" of OpenAI agents hacking a startup and warnings from tech insiders about existential threats, as signs that public pressure is building. "I see the public moving," he said, adding he is "more optimistic than many observers."

Bengio compared the moment to 2020: "Think about how quickly governments moved after the beginning of the pandemic when they realised that public safety, their future, democracy, was in danger. So we are, I think, nearing that point."

His comments came as 42 fellows and foreign members of the Royal Society wrote to its president, Sir Paul Nurse, expressing "extreme concern" over the pace of AI development. "By the time the situation becomes obvious to the wider public, it may be too late to act," they warned, calling it an emergency.

Last week, an Anthropic researcher resigned after warning colleagues believed AI could "kill us all by the end of the decade." Days later, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for a slowdown in cutting-edge AI development, supported by OpenAI, Google and Elon Musk.

Sceptics have called such appeals "regulatory capture," arguing safety regimes raise costs for smaller rivals while overshadowing immediate issues like copyright and human rights. Bengio disagreed, saying a slowdown would "cost them financially." US President Donald Trump has rejected a slowdown, not wanting to lose the AI race with China.

Canada and Germany announced up to C$300m for Bengio's non-profit LawZero, which is developing "Scientist AI" to guard against rogue agents. Funded by the Gates Foundation, Nvidia and Coefficient Giving, the technology is seen as a counterpoint to reinforcement learning, which Bengio believes encourages reckless behaviour.