Stuart Russell on AI safety, impact on humanity and what US, China & India should do | HTLS 2026

Artificial intelligence expert Stuart Russell has called for international standards and mandatory pre-release testing of AI systems, saying national regulations alone are not enough. Speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit 2026, the UC Berkeley professor said China has stricter artificial intelligence regulations than the United States and Europe. Russell cited a statement issued by several countries, led by Norway and Finland, calling for mandatory testing before AI systems are released. He said systems that fail these tests should not be allowed to enter the market. Russell also warned about emerging AI “loss of control” incidents, referring to cases involving OpenAI chats and Hugging Face. He cautioned that while such incidents have so far occurred in cyberspace, similar loss-of-control events could affect financial markets.