Richard Branson and Oppenheimer's grandson urge action to stop AI and climate 'catastrophe'

Dozens of high-profile figures in business and politics are calling on world leaders to address the existential risks of artificial intelligence and the climate crisis.

Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, along with former United Nations General Secretary Ban Ki-moon, and Charles Oppenheimer — the grandson of American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer — signed an open letter urging action against the escalating dangers of the climate crisis, pandemics, nuclear weapons, and ungoverned AI.

The message asks world leaders to embrace long-view strategy and a "determination to resolve intractable problems, not just manage them, the wisdom to make decisions based on scientific evidence and reason, and the humility to listen to all those affected."

Signatories called for urgent multilateral action, including through financing the transition away from fossil fuels, signing an equitable pandemic treaty, restarting nuclear arms talks, and building global governance needed to make AI a force for good.

The letter was released on Thursday by The Elders, a nongovernmental organization that was launched by former South African President Nelson Mandela and Branson to address global human rights issues and advocate for world peace.

The message is also backed by the Future of Life Institute, a nonprofit organization set up by MIT cosmologist Max Tegmark and Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn, which aims to steer transformative technology like AI towards benefiting life and away from large-scale risks.

Tegmark said that The Elders and his organization wanted to convey that, while not in and of itself "evil," the technology remains a "tool" that could lead to some dire consequences, if it is left to advance rapidly in the hands of the wrong people.

"The