Ten Nobel Laureates Walk Into the UN and Ask for AI Red Lines

By the AI Boom Team | Published 23 September 2025 More than 200 prominent figures, including 10 Nobel Prize winners, want the world to agree binding AI red lines. Their call was launched on 22 September at the opening of the 80th UN General Assembly, announced by journalist and Nobel Peace laureate Maria Ressa.

What are AI red lines?

Simply put, they are bans. The idea is that nations agree certain uses of AI are too dangerous under any circumstances. Examples floated by the campaign include:

• putting AI in charge of nuclear weapons;
• lethal autonomous weapons;
• mass surveillance and social scoring;
• AI-driven cyberattacks and impersonating people.

Supporters compare it to the global bans on chemical weapons and human cloning. You can read the full statement at red-lines.ai.

Who signed?

The list is heavyweight. It includes AI pioneers Geoffrey Hinton and Yoshua Bengio, economists Joseph Stiglitz and Daron Acemoglu, and former Irish president Mary Robinson. Notably, staff from OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Anthropic and Microsoft signed too, as the Jakarta Post reported.

The deadline, and the obstacle

The signatories want red lines in place by the end of 2026. However, the US government soon rejected the idea of a binding global AI watchdog, preferring voluntary rules, according to Fast Company. So a worldwide treaty looks a long way off.

Why should a business care?

Global rules eventually trickle down into supplier contracts and customer questions. Meanwhile, the AI labs themselves are now asking MPs for binding rules. Getting your own house in order costs little. Start with our free AI usage policy template. Want to understand how AI is changing business, in plain English? Read Get AI Before It Gets You by the AI Boom team, or get in touch at hello@aiboom.uk. © aiboom.uk