Statement on Superintelligence (superintelligence-statement.org)

A succinct public statement calls for an immediate prohibition on developing superintelligence—AI systems that could, within the coming decade, significantly outperform all humans on essentially all cognitive tasks—until two conditions are met: broad scientific consensus that such systems can be created safely and controllably, and strong public buy-in. The notice is framed to create common knowledge that a growing number of experts and public figures oppose a rapid push toward superintelligence given the scale of potential harms. The announcement is significant for the AI/ML community because it directly challenges prevailing roadmaps that prioritize scaling and capability-led research, and it elevates governance and alignment as prerequisites for progress. It highlights concrete risks including economic dislocation, loss of freedom and civil liberties, national security threats, and even existential danger. Technically, the demand implies stricter scrutiny of scaling strategies, greater investment in verifiable alignment methods, transparency and auditability of advanced models, and the need for international regulatory frameworks to enforce any moratorium. If adopted, the policy could reshape funding, research priorities, deployment guardrails, and collaboration between industry, academia, and governments.