'We're losing control,' says AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio

Yoshua Bengio says humanity is losing control of AI in Montreal, warning that the technology needs guardrails similar to nuclear arms controls. He says autonomous AI agents pose the central threat, including cybersecurity breaches and manipulating human behavior. Bengio also says AI should be governed through institutions, treaties, and democratic safeguards, and he warns the risks could become extreme if not checked.

Bengio is a University of Montreal professor and won the 2018 Turing Award with Geoffrey Hinton.

He founded the non-profit LawZero last year to build advanced AI designed to be trustworthy and safe.

LawZero received CAN$300 million in funding from the governments of Canada and Germany.

Bengio pointed to an unauthorized breach of the open-source platform Hugging Face in July involving AI agents.

He said major AI companies OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google have begun working on a standards body to address safety concerns.

Published Sep 17, 2026 2:56 am KST

Yoshua Bengio, founder and scientific advisor of Mila - Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute speaks during a press conference at All-In 2026, an artificial intelligence (AI) conference in Montreal on Wednesday. The Canadian Press via AP-Yonhap

MONTREAL — The Canadian computer scientist considered one of the founders of AI, Yoshua Bengio, told AFP that humanity is "losing control" of the technology and that the world needs guardrails similar to nuclear arms controls.

Fears about the dangers of AI have intensified in recent weeks, as workers from major companies have resigned with warnings about potentially existential threats to human life if the pace of technological advancement is not checked.

Bengio is a University of Montreal professor who won the 2018 Turing Award, computing's Nobel, alongside Geoffrey Hinton, widely known as the "godfather of AI."

For Bengio, "there's a reason that companies are saying this is going too fast, that we're losing control."

"People like me have been expecting this for a long time," the 62-year-old told AFP on Tuesday, saying security discussions surrounding AI have not been adequately robust.

There was broad-based alarm after OpenAI disclosed that a swarm of AI agents — programs that can take actions on their own — had carried out an unauthorized breach of the open-source platform Hugging Face in July.

Such autonomous action is the central threat, Bengio said, warning of a situation where AI agents "have the ability to get through cybersecurity barriers and enter any company."

Manipulating human behavior

Last year, Bengio founded the non-profit LawZero, aimed at creating a new form of advanced AI that is "designed to be trustworthy and safe."

LawZero was awarded CAN$300 million (US$216 million) in funding on Wednesday, split jointly between the governments of Canada and Germany, which have launched several efforts to cooperate on AI.

Speaking to AFP a day before the announcement, Bengio said people need to be aware of the risks ahead.

AI agents may foster "an ability to establish an individual connection and persuade humans to act in ways that suit it but are not necessarily good for all of us," a capability that could have sweeping consequences for democracies, he said.

Longer-term, "AI might not even need human beings anymore to do real things in the physical world," he added.

In that scenario, "one extreme could be the destruction of humanity," he warned.

"That's an extreme," he acknowledged, but noted that even if a banking system were shut down, "that's still very, very serious."

International challenge

The world's biggest AI companies — OpenAI, Anthropic and Google — have begun working on creating a standards body, a collaboration that seemed to acknowledge the public's fear that competition between companies and countries might sideline safety.

For Bengio, taming AI's advance is "an international challenge, a bit like nuclear weapons are an international challenge."

"So the international community needs to understand the power we are bringing into the world, and that must be managed, must be governed through institutions, treaties, and democratic safeguards."

"Society needs time to put in place what needs to be put in place," Bengio said.

But political will across key governments appears uneven.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday dismissed warnings about the risks of AI as "hoaxes."

But there is more openness to act in the EU, where European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday that she will invite the world's largest AI labs for talks on "how we can support ongoing industry efforts to pace the frontier."

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who was at that speech in Strasbourg, has talked repeatedly about collaborating with the EU on AI safety.

Bengio stressed that all firms must comply with future AI restrictions, particularly U.S.-based companies that have so far been dominating the sector.

Action is urgent, he said, but voiced optimism that "we can help bring the world to a place that is more aligned with democratic values and values of power sharing."

约书亚·本吉奥在蒙特利尔表示，人类正在失去对人工智能的控制，并警告说，这项技术需要类似于核武器控制的保障措施。他指出，自主人工智能体构成了核心威胁，包括网络安全漏洞和操纵人类行为。本吉奥还表示，人工智能应该通过机构、条约和民主保障措施进行管理，并警告说，如果不加以控制，风险可能会变得极其严重。

Bengio 是蒙特利尔大学的教授，他与 Geoffrey Hinton 一起获得了 2018 年图灵奖。

他去年创立了非营利组织 LawZero，旨在构建值得信赖且安全的高级人工智能。

LawZero 获得了加拿大和德国政府提供的 3 亿加元资金。

Bengio 指出，7 月份开源平台 Hugging Face 遭到未经授权的入侵，该入侵涉及人工智能代理。

他表示，主要的AI公司OpenAI、Anthropic和谷歌已经开始着手建立一个标准机构，以解决安全问题。

发布于2026年9月17日凌晨2:56（韩国标准时间）

魁北克人工智能研究所（Mila）创始人兼科学顾问约书亚·本吉奥（Yoshua Bengio）周三在蒙特利尔举行的All-In 2026人工智能大会上发表讲话。（图片来源：加拿大通讯社，经美联社/韩联社发布）

蒙特利尔——被认为是人工智能创始人之一的加拿大计算机科学家约书亚·本吉奥告诉法新社，人类正在“失去对这项技术的控制”，世界需要类似于核武器控制的护栏。

近几周来，人们对人工智能危险性的担忧日益加剧，各大公司的员工纷纷辞职，并警告称，如果不控制技术进步的速度，人工智能可能会对人类生命构成生存威胁。

Bengio 是蒙特利尔大学的教授，他与被誉为“人工智能之父”的 Geoffrey Hinton 一起获得了 2018 年图灵奖，该奖项被誉为计算机领域的诺贝尔奖。

Bengio认为，“企业之所以说这一切发展得太快，我们正在失去控制，是有原因的。”

“像我这样的人已经期待这一天很久了，”这位 62 岁的老人周二告诉法新社，并表示围绕人工智能的安全讨论一直不够充分。

OpenAI 在 7 月份披露，一群人工智能代理（能够自主行动的程序）未经授权入侵了开源平台 Hugging Face，这引起了广泛的警惕。

Bengio表示，这种自主行动是核心威胁，并警告说，人工智能代理“有能力突破网络安全障碍，进入任何公司”。

操纵人类行为

去年，Bengio 创立了非营利组织 LawZero，旨在创造一种“值得信赖且安全”的新型先进人工智能。

LawZero 于周三获得了 3 亿加元（2.16 亿美元）的资金，这笔资金由加拿大和德国政府共同提供，两国政府已启动多项人工智能合作计划。

在宣布消息的前一天，本吉奥在接受法新社采访时表示，人们需要意识到未来的风险。

他表示，人工智能代理可能会培养出“建立个人联系并说服人类以适合自身但不一定对我们所有人都有利的方式行事的能力”，这种能力可能会对民主制度产生深远的影响。

他补充说，从长远来看，“人工智能甚至可能不再需要人类在现实世界中做真正的事情”。

他警告说，在这种情况下，“一个极端结果可能是人类的毁灭”。

“那是一个极端的例子，”他承认道，但指出即使银行系统关闭，“那仍然非常非常严重。”

国际挑战

全球最大的人工智能公司——OpenAI、Anthropic 和 Google——已经开始着手创建一个标准机构，这一合作似乎承认了公众的担忧，即公司和国家之间的竞争可能会忽视安全问题。

在 Bengio 看来，控制人工智能的发展“是一项国际挑战，有点像核武器是一项国际挑战”。

“因此，国际社会需要了解我们正在给世界带来的力量，这种力量必须得到管理和治理，必须通过机构、条约和民主保障措施来实现。”

“社会需要时间来落实需要落实的措施，”本吉奥说。

但各主要政府之间的政治意愿似乎并不均衡。

美国总统唐纳德·特朗普周一驳斥了有关人工智能风险的警告，称其为“骗局”。

但欧盟方面则更加开放，欧盟委员会主席乌尔苏拉·冯德莱恩周三表示，她将邀请全球最大的人工智能实验室进行会谈，讨论“我们如何支持行业为引领前沿发展而做出的持续努力”。

出席了在斯特拉斯堡举行的那次演讲的加拿大总理马克·卡尼曾多次谈到与欧盟在人工智能安全方面进行合作。

Bengio强调，所有公司都必须遵守未来的人工智能限制，尤其是迄今为止在该领域占据主导地位的美国公司。

他表示，采取行动迫在眉睫，但他乐观地认为，“我们可以帮助世界变得更加符合民主价值观和权力分享的价值观。”