3rd Newsletter - Launch of the Coalition for a Baruch Plan for AI
As 2024 is drawing to a close, a majority of AI scientists and leaders tell us that we are inexorably heading towards AIs that are powerful enough to subjugate or annihilate humanity, or enable a firm or state to do so.
Following its September 10th Announcement, we hold today the Launch of the Coalition for a Baruch Plan for AI - via the publication of a 90-page paper with contributions by 22 experts, along with an Open Call, an 8-minute explainer video, and a revised website.
In a gist:
"We call on all heads of state, President-Elect Trump and President Xi, their advisors and security agencies, to engage in an open global treaty-making process for safe and fair AI of radically unprecedented scope, urgency and effectiveness."
Nothing less, we believe, is needed given AI's immense and urgent risks for human safety and the global concentration of power and wealth - as most AI scientists warn ever more loudly - and realize its astounding potential.
We can and should learn from the boldness of the Baruch Plan, a treaty proposed by the US to the UN on June 14th, 1946, to create a new global organization with exclusive control over all dangerous nuclear assets, arsenals, facilities and research - and atomic energy.
To avoid its eventual failure, and that of treaties on nuclear weapons and climate change since then - we must rely on a treaty-making process of radically unprecedented scope, urgency and effectiveness.
AI leaders that have referred to or called for the Baruch Plan as a model for AI governance include Ian Hogarth, (UK AISI), Allan Dafoe (Global Head of AGI Strategy at Google DeepMind), Jack Clark (Global Head of Strategy at Anthropic), Yoshua Bengio (most cited AI scientist), Jaan Tallinn (FLI), and the philosopher Nick Bostrom.
In just three months, exclusively via volunteer work, we expanded from 6 NGOs to 40 leading experts and NGOs contributing over 1,500 hours to build a community, expand our network and produce four key documents:
Open Call for a Coalition for a Baruch Plan for AI (800 words, web link) preceded by a 37-word Abstract that best synthesizes our aims.
Executive Summary of the Coalition for a Baruch Plan for AI (2500 words, web link)
Case for a Coalition for a Baruch Plan for AI (v.1) (90 pages, pdf link)
Video introduction to the Coalition for a Baruch Plan for AI (8 minutes, youtube link)
As per our revised strategy and roadmap, we are actively onboarding suitable NGOs, experts, current and former state officials and donors that can help us improve our content and our reach.
Starting in January, through our expanding network, we'll reach and engage relevant state advisors and directors of state agencies most influential in AI policy decisions by heads of state, especially in China and the US.
Our ultimate goal is to maximize the chances that heads of state, especially the presidents of the US and China, will follow some or most of our recommendations and eventually take over our initiative in a critical mass of other globally-diverse states.
How You Can Help and Participate
Sign our Open Call as a person or NGO.
Invite influential persons and NGOs to sign the Open Call.
Share our social media posts on our X/Twitter Channel and Linkedin Channel - via comments, likes and reposts, to expand our reach.
Contribute your strategic insights, suggestions or commentary.
Contribute to our content production: a) special “cases” for each state and key state officials; b) an Appendix v.1.1 to our 90-page Case for a Coalition for a Baruch Plan for AI (v.1) (due Jan 2025, suggest and comment on this working draft) and a Case v.2 (due April 2025); c) blog and social media posts; d) op-eds; e) video content; f) apply to participate in upcoming virtual panels and future events)
Sign up for our newsletter form at the footer of our website.
Introduce us to influential experts and NGOs.
Introduce us to relevant prospects via an email or by sharing with them our case for NGOs, experts and volunteers, our case for prospective donors funders, our case for superpowers, our case for non-superpower states or our case for leading AI labs.
Donate if you have the means to do so, from $30 per month to help our volunteer-only initiative stay afloat (!) up to $5 million to execute our initiative over 3 years optimally.
Join us as an NGO, Expert or Volunteer by filling out this form.
Reach out to us at cbpai@trustlesscomputing.org
Best wishes for a Happy Christmas Holidays!
The Coalition for a Baruch Plan for AI
