On the 21st, President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea presided over the AI Seoul Summit with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, reaching an agreement that focused on three primary principles: safety, innovation, and inclusivity.
During the summit, which President Yoon led virtually from the Blue House, he stated, “As a responsible member of the international community, South Korea will harmoniously promote the safety, innovation, and inclusivity of artificial intelligence (AI).” He further commented, “Since the advent of generative AI, the rapid advancements in AI technology are expected to have a profound impact on human society.” President Yoon also noted the significance of the summit, stating, “At the ‘AI Safety Summit’ held in Bletchley Park, UK last November, we discussed AI safety. This follow-up meeting in Seoul broadens the scope of discussion to include innovation and inclusivity.”
He emphasized, “This summit will be an opportunity to advance global AI norms and governance, consolidating our efforts, including the digital rights charter established by the Korean government, the AI resolution of the UN General Assembly, and the Hiroshima AI Process of the G7.”
President Yoon also stressed the need to ensure AI safety to protect societal peace and democracy. He also called for open and free research and development to foster innovation and stressed the importance of inclusivity so that everyone, regardless of their place of residence or income level, can benefit from AI.
According to the presidential office, the summit participants, including global corporate representatives, discussed ways to minimize the risks of AI, maximize its potential through free research and development, and ensure that the benefits it generates are shared by all of humanity.
The leaders at the summit adopted the Seoul Declaration for Safe, Innovative, and Inclusive AI and the Seoul Statement of Intent for International Cooperation on AI Safety Science. In the Seoul Declaration, the leaders agreed on the importance of including safety, innovation, and inclusivity as interconnected goals in international discussions on AI governance.
They emphasized the importance of maximizing the benefits of AI to ensure its safety, adopting approaches to address a wide range of risks, and the interoperability of AI governance systems. They also recognized the special responsibilities of organizations developing advanced AI systems.
The leaders expressed support for the efforts of participating countries to establish AI safety research institutes and programs, and regulatory agencies, and pledged to make efforts to enhance international cooperation. They called for strengthening global cooperation to promote AI safety, innovation, and inclusivity, resolving international challenges using human-centered AI, promoting democratic values, the rule of law, human rights, basic freedoms, and privacy protection, and enhancing human welfare by overcoming the AI and digital divide.
Leading AI companies pledged to prevent AI risks and develop responsible AI. In his closing remarks, President Yoon said, “The Seoul Declaration, as an agreement among leaders, is significant as it elevates the level of agreement achieved at Bletchley Park. I hope to see the AI Summit becoming a leading platform for global AI governance, and I look forward to France’s leadership, our next host country.”
The summit was attended by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni, French President Emmanuel Macron, Vice President of the European Commission Věra Jourová.
Although Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was unable to attend the summit due to scheduling conflicts, he participated in the adoption of the Seoul Declaration. UN Secretary-General António Guterres and OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann also attended as representatives of international organizations.
Prominent figures from global AI companies such as Eric Schmidt, founder of the Schmidt Foundation, Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, Dario Amodei, Chairman of Anthropic, Lee Jae Yong, Chairman of Samsung Electronics, Lee Hae Jin, Founder of Naver, Arthur Mensch, Chairman of MistralAI, Anna Makanju, Vice President of OpenAI, Brad Smith, President of Microsoft Corporation, David Zapolsky, Vice Chairman of Amazon.com, Inc Web Services, Nick Clegg, President of Meta Platforms, Inc., and Elon Musk, Founder of xAI, were present.
The presidential office evaluated, “This AI Summit produced the first agreement among leaders, and expanded the agenda to include innovation and inclusivity, establishing itself as the only top-level platform for discussing AI governance.”
France plans to host the next summit under the name AI Action Summit.
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