11 September 2026
OPEN LETTER FROM ACADEMICS CONCERNING RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

We are deeply concerned about developments in artificial intelligence, including recent cases in which AI agents hacked their way into other systems. We recognize these events as warnings about what will happen if we fail to intervene, and we worry that these events may be the last warnings we will get. Experts warn that there is a meaningful risk of losing control of AI, which could result in global catastrophe or even the extinction of human beings. A meaningful risk of these events is intolerable.

Many of us do research on collective action problems. The way to solve collective action problems is with cooperation. In this case, we will need international cooperation; simply pausing frontier AI development in the United States alone is unlikely to avert danger. We therefore urge elected officials to create an international treaty, much like the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Because the fate of humanity is at risk, it is vitally important that this treaty pause, slow, or halt frontier AI development in every country in the world.

Signed,

197
signatures
180 verified
  1. Molly Gardner, Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Florida
  2. Richard Yetter Chappell, Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL
  3. Catharine Diehl, Assistant Professor, Leiden University, Leiden
  4. G. Anthony Bruno, Professor of Philosophy, RHUL, London UK
  5. Peter A Graham, Professor of Philosophy, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst
  6. Beau Madison Mount, Associate Professor of Logic, University of Oxford, Oxford
  7. Leonard Dung, Postdoc in Philosophy, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum
  8. Kyle York, PhD Candidate, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder
  9. Jacob Green, PhD Student, UMass Amherst, Amherst, MA
  10. Scott Hill, Philosophy, Wichita State University, Wichita
  11. Nevin Climenhaga, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
  12. Theophilus Chia, PhD Student, UMass Amherst, Amherst
  13. James A. Woodbridge, Professor of Philosophy, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV
  14. Chris Costello, Graduate Student, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA
  15. Ashka Ramanlal, Student, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst
  16. Alexander Guerrero, Professor of Philosophy, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
  17. william chaney, PhD candidate, UMass Amherst Economics Department, Northampton MA
  18. Nathan Nobis, Philosophy professor, Morehouse College, Atlanta, GA
  19. Brookes Brown, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of Toronto, Toronto
  20. J. L. A. Donohue, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR
...
140 more
verified signatures
  1. ELINOR MASON, PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY, UCSB, Santa Barbara
  2. Chris Bousquet, Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy, College of the Holy Cross
  3. William Flesch, Professor, Brandeis University, Waltham
  4. Jeffrey Kuan, Co-President, Claremont School of Theology, Los Angeles
  5. Stevie Makin, Reader in Ancient Philosopy, retired, University of Sheffield, She
  6. Joe Christy, Retired, ex-{Northwestern, IAS, BU, Caltech, UCSC, MSRI}, Santa Cruz
  7. Scott Woodcock, Professor, University of Victoria, Victoria
  8. James Mahon, Professor of Philosophy, City University of New York at Lehman College, Brooklyn
  9. bianca, psychiatrist, private, rome
  10. Martine Prange, Full Professor of Philosophy, Tilburg University, Amsterdam
  11. Tim Christiaens, Assistant professor, Tilburg University, Tilburg
  12. John Biro, retired, Archer, FL
  13. Daniela Ciotola, Educatrice, Roma
  14. David Janssens, Lecturer, Tilburg University, Tilburg
  15. Christian Tarsney, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of Toronto, Toronto
  16. Jonathan Spelman, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Ohio Northern University
  17. John Schindler, PhD candidate, Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh
  18. Lotte Spreeuwenberg, Philosophy lecturer, Tilburg University
  19. Dominic Roser, Philosophy, University of Fribourg, Switzerland, Fribourg
  20. Marshall Bierson, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Catholic University of America, Washington DC
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