SEOUL — Former U.S. vice-president Kamala Harris urged governments and technology companies to move quickly on safeguards for artificial intelligence during an appearance at South Korea’s Asan Institute for Policy Studies on Wednesday.

Harris described cybersecurity threats, AI-enabled weapons and systems escaping human control as three dangers requiring immediate attention. She also argued that the United States and China should cooperate on shared AI risks despite their wider strategic rivalry.

A warning, not a new government policy

Harris is not currently a government official. Her remarks set out a political position rather than a binding U.S. policy, regulation or negotiated international agreement.

She called for AI developers to be involved in designing guardrails and said the opportunity to contain the technology’s most serious risks was narrowing. Reuters did not report a detailed legislative proposal, timetable or enforcement mechanism accompanying the remarks.

Existing U.S.–China dialogue provides context

The White House said after a September meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping that the two governments had established a bilateral dialogue on AI risks and benefits, along with a communication channel for AI incidents. The administration says the next exchange is expected by November.

That existing channel does not establish agreement on specific safeguards. Harris’s appeal was for cooperation where the countries’ interests align, while maintaining competition and avoiding conflict.

Remarks ranged beyond AI

Harris also criticized Trump’s tariff policy, praised South Korean investment in U.S. shipbuilding, semiconductors, electric vehicles and clean energy, and called for a renewed U.S. commitment to its alliance with South Korea.

Asked about the 2028 U.S. presidential election, Harris said she had not decided whether to run. That answer leaves her political plans unresolved; it was not a campaign announcement.

The Seoul remarks add a prominent Democratic voice to the international debate over AI governance, but the measurable next steps will depend on whether governments and companies turn broad calls for safeguards into published standards, laws or operational agreements.

Sources: Reuters, October 14; White House fact sheet on the U.S.–China AI dialogue, September 25.

Lead image: official 2021 portrait of Kamala Harris by Lawrence Jackson, Executive Office of the President, via Wikimedia Commons; public domain. File photograph, not an image of the October 14 Seoul appearance.