Over a dozen Nobel laureates signed the Rome Declaration on Artificial Intelligence and Nuclear Weapons at the Capitol in Rome on July 16, 2026. (Photo by François Diaz-Maurin)
ROME—In a future nuclear crisis, the speed of artificial intelligence may leave little room for human judgment or decision-making. Other AI impacts—its potential to empower destabilizing cyber-attacks or allow for the near-instantaneous generation of disinformation—increase the odds of such a crisis occurring in the first place. Touching on these themes and others, an international group of Nobel Prize winners issued a pointed warning Thursday on emerging nuclear risks in an era of rapidly developing AI technology.
The group’s declaration, titled Humanity at the Threshold: A Declaration on Artificial Intelligence and Nuclear Weapons, followed two days of meetings among the Nobel laureates, top scientific and policy experts, and religious leaders in the Papal Villas of Castel Gandolfo, a summer retreat for popes since the 1600s.
Participants arrive at the conference venue at the Borgo Laudato si’ in Castel Gandolfo. (Photo by François Diaz-Maurin)
Dubbed The Global Nobel Laureates Assembly on Artificial Intelligence and Nuclear War, the meetings included expert presentations on eight themes related to the rapid advance of AI models, their use in military systems that include command and control of nuclear weapons, and the practical and ethical challenges connected to efforts to reduce the dangers that the AI-nuke nexus poses to humanity.
The assembly followed recent efforts at highlighting the risks posed by the ongoing AI and nuclear arms races. Last year, the Nobel Laureate Assembly for the Prevention of Nuclear War met at the University of Chicago and issued a declaration calling on policymakers and leaders to reduce the threat of nuclear war. And earlier this month, the United Nations published its first scientific assessment report on the opportunities, risks, and impacts of AI; the assessment explains how the technology could exacerbate global inequality.
But this week marked the first time that such a large and diverse gathering of scientists, experts, activists, and religious leaders addressed, in concert, the risks of AI and nuclear weapons.
Panelists during a session on Technology in the Service of Humanity moderated by Bulletin editor-in-chief John Mecklin on July 14, 2026. Left to right, Tong Zhao (Carnegie Endowment), Jason Pruet (OpenAI), Tatsujiro Suzuki (Nagasaki University), Andre Konstantin Geim (2010 Nobel Prize in Physics), Oleksandra Matviichuk (2022 Nobel Peace Prize), Daryl Kimball (Arms Control Association), Tristan Harris (Center for Humane Technology), and John Mecklin. (Photo by François Diaz-Maurin)
The Rome Declaration presented a harrowing description of the problem:
AI built into nuclear systems leaves little time for, or even replaces, human judgement in a crisis. This technology changes the context in which nuclear-armed states compete with each other. … AI uplifts cyber attacks that can fracture critical civilian and strategic infrastructure. AI enables information warfare: Peace depends on a shared reality. Without facts there can be no truth; without truth there can be no trust; and without trust, no dialogue, no verification, and no restraint among nations.
The most advanced AI capabilities, computing resources, and data infrastructures are becoming increasingly concentrated in a small number of countries and corporations, creating significant asymmetries of power and limited incentives for cooperation. AI is a technology that causes economic, military, and social disruption, and is developing at a pace unprecedented in human history.
In the midst of a worsening nuclear arms race, we are embarking on an equally dangerous AI race.
The declaration’s subtitle—Toward an Unarmed and Disarming Peace—reflected the religious underpinnings of the assembly by referencing language Pope Leo XIV used in his May encyclical Magnifica Humanitas: on safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence. The Vatican was able to convene a diverse group of thought leaders in a way that arguably would not be possible otherwise. It’s a group that could have real impact.
“I might reach a million people,” 2011 Nobel physics laureate Brian Schmidt said. “But the Pope can reach 2 billion. That’s 2,000 times more than me.”
Nobel physics laureate Brian Schmidt signs the Rome Declaration on July 16, 2026. (Photo by François Diaz-Maurin)
Part of the effort this week, Schmidt said, was aimed at convincing the Vatican that the combined risk of AI and nuclear war is an issue important enough for the Vatican and other churches.
Participants at the assembly called for urgent action to address the threat. For Maria Ressa, a 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and a co-rapporteur for the declaration, the world has already experienced its Trinity-test moment with AI, alluding to the first nuclear weapons test 81 years ago this week. “An atom bomb exploded silently in our information ecosystem. Now, crises can be manufactured in minutes.”
Muhammad Yunus, winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, told the Bulletin that the declaration was important amid growing nuclear tensions and the threatening possibilities AI is giving rise to. For Yunus, “artificial intelligence is just the beginning of the horror story. It can become a terrible thing because we are letting the genie out of the bottle. So, this is a good time to take a stand.”
Many participants noted the difficulty of assessing risk, given the speed with which AI is developing. One expert working at a major AI company told the Bulletin that up until three months ago, the expert was not worried about the potential of AI to become an existential threat. Now the developer is worried. Deeply.
“I was uncomfortable. Now I’m genuinely alarmed,” Schmidt, the winner of the 2011 physics prize, said. “That’s because I’ve learned more.”
Did the assembly meet the moment? “I think we got there,” Schmidt said, adding, “It’s a very complicated new space. I think by bringing the groups together, it has clarified the risk.”
The meeting may have brought clarity to the problem, but formulating solutions promises to be difficult. The declaration makes six recommendations, including to end the AI and nuclear arms races and to ensure the responsible development and governance of AI models so they align with “humanity’s interests, including international law and respect for human rights.”
The actress and humanitarian activist Sharon Stone, who participated in the assembly’s deliberations, called on leaders to “pursue the common good and peace for every human,” adding, “our children must be allowed to keep loving each other.”
Juan Manuel Santos, the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former president of Colombia, noted that in the 1980s and 90s, people took to the streets in massive demonstrations against nuclear weapons and the threat of nuclear war.
“Today, 40 years later, when the risk of a nuclear war has increased dramatically [including because of AI], there’s practically no demonstration, no reaction from the public to this existential threat,” Santos told the Bulletin. “A meeting of this sort, I hope, generates the momentum for this type of reaction from the public opinion to press the world leaders into more definite decisions to reduce the risk to the poor.”
The Nobel winners say they need to spread their message far beyond Castel Gandolfo.
“This is the beginning,” Yunus said. “The whole world should get together, not just a few people. That is very important.”
David Gross, the 2004 Nobel physics laureate and a co-rapporteur of the declaration, agreed. “The next battle is in the streets.”