"Türk calls for urgent, meaningful action to tackle unprecedented AI risks", 14 September 2026

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday called on States and the world’s ‘frontier’ artificial intelligence companies to act urgently to ensure meaningful AI governance keeps pace with its accelerating development and the unprecedented risks to human rights...

The High Commissioner said companies that are at the forefront of developing frontier AI have both the responsibility and the ability to move immediately to reduce risks.

“Robust human rights due diligence incorporating agreed safety standards needs to be developed, implemented across the sector and continuously improved. And implementation of those standards needs to be subject to internal independent monitoring to increase transparency and accountability,” he wrote.

The High Commissioner also emphasized that States hosting leading frontier AI companies have a particular obligation to require those companies to act responsibly and hold them accountable if they do not. He called on States to ensure independent, technically competent verification of agentic capabilities, with access to models, documentation and testing environments, and mandate ongoing human rights due diligence.