Bletchley Declaration
In plain wordsA short statement signed by 28 countries and the European Union at the first global AI safety summit, held in England in 2023, agreeing that the most advanced AI could cause serious harm.
The political declaration agreed on 1 November 2023 at the first AI Safety SummitAI Safety Summit, prop. n.: A series of international meetings of governments, AI companies and researchers, begun in England in 2023, to agree on how to handle the risks and benefits of the most advanced AI., held at Bletchley Park in the United Kingdom, by 28 countries — among them the United States, China, India, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom — and the European Union. It welcomes the opportunities of AI while warning of 'serious, even catastrophic, harm' from the most capable frontier AIfrontier AI, n.: The most capable general-purpose AI systems of the moment — those at or beyond the leading edge — which governments single out for extra safety attention. models, whether through misuse or loss of control, especially in cybersecurity, biotechnology and disinformation. Its agenda had two strands: a shared, science-based understanding of the risks of frontier AI, and national policies built on that understanding, backed by more openness from developers, agreed ways of evaluating models, safety-testing tools and expertise inside governments. It is not legally binding.
The Bletchley Declaration was the first time the United States and China signed a joint text on frontier AI risk.
Origin
Negotiated by the UK government under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for the summit of 1–2 November 2023. Its call for an internationally inclusive network of scientific research led to the International AI Safety ReportInternational AI Safety Report, prop. n.: A large scientific review, led by the computer scientist Yoshua Bengio and backed by more than 30 countries, summing up what is known about what advanced AI can do and how it could go wrong., chaired by Yoshua Bengio, and the summit series continued in Seoul (2024), Paris (2025) and New Delhi (2026).
Usage note
Later summit statements were broader in theme and less focused on catastrophic risk. The United States and United Kingdom declined to sign the Paris summit statement of February 2025, although the United States and China both signed the New Delhi declaration of February 2026.
Related
- AI Safety SummitAI Safety Summit, prop. n.: A series of international meetings of governments, AI companies and researchers, begun in England in 2023, to agree on how to handle the risks and benefits of the most advanced AI.
- frontier AIfrontier AI, n.: The most capable general-purpose AI systems of the moment — those at or beyond the leading edge — which governments single out for extra safety attention.
- International AI Safety ReportInternational AI Safety Report, prop. n.: A large scientific review, led by the computer scientist Yoshua Bengio and backed by more than 30 countries, summing up what is known about what advanced AI can do and how it could go wrong.
- AI Safety InstituteAI Safety Institute, n.: A government agency that tests the most advanced AI models for dangerous abilities and studies how to make them safe. Britain and the United States set up the first ones in 2023.
- Frontier AI Safety CommitmentsFrontier AI Safety Commitments, prop. n.: Promises made in 2024 by major AI companies to publish safety plans for their most advanced models, including the danger points at which they would stop if the risks could not be controlled.
- existential riskexistential risk, n.: A danger that could end humanity, or shut it out of a good future forever. Some experts count advanced AI among the largest such risks; others think this worry is overblown.
Sources
- UK Government (2023). The Bletchley Declaration by Countries Attending the AI Safety Summit, 1–2 November 2023.
Mentioned in
AI Safety SummitAI Safety Summit, prop. n.: A series of international meetings of governments, AI companies and researchers, begun in England in 2023, to agree on how to handle the risks and benefits of the most advanced AI., loss of controlloss of control, n.: A situation in which people can no longer oversee, correct or switch off an AI system, and have no reliable way of getting that power back., International AI Safety ReportInternational AI Safety Report, prop. n.: A large scientific review, led by the computer scientist Yoshua Bengio and backed by more than 30 countries, summing up what is known about what advanced AI can do and how it could go wrong.