AI poses ‘Hiroshima’-style threat to humanity without global rules, says Cooper

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has warned that artificial intelligence poses a "Hiroshima"-style risk to humanity unless governments agree to international rules to curb its development, arguing the world cannot afford to wait for a catastrophe before acting [1]. In an essay for the Chatham House thinktank, Cooper drew a direct parallel to nuclear weapons, stating: "On nuclear, international agreement came only after the world saw the terrifying power of the new technology at Hiroshima – and asked what would happen if it fell into the wrong hands. We cannot afford to wait for an AI equivalent of Hiroshima before we act" [1]. She told the Guardian she believes AI will become the dominant foreign policy issue over the next two years [1]. Cooper identified malign actors, including state-backed criminal groups and extremist organizations, as already using technology to threaten global security [1]. Her warning arrives amid a fractured international landscape. She wrote that European powers must adjust to the permanent withdrawal of the United States from its role as a global arbiter, stating: "We should no longer expect the US to play the role it once did" [1]. The foreign secretary's remarks come as the European Union has formally labeled China "a cooperation partner, a negotiating partner, an economic competitor, and a systemic rival" since March 2019, while maintaining an arms embargo and anti-dumping measures against Beijing [7]. The EU's relationship with China is economically deep — China is the bloc's second-largest trading partner after the United States — but increasingly fraught over technology and security [7]. International divergence on AI governance is already visible. A 2025 survey of 720 respondents across China, Europe, and the United States found that Chinese participants expressed significantly higher acceptance of AI-enhanced public surveillance than Europeans or Americans, who preferred conventional monitoring methods [2]. Researchers noted that context, culture, and social norms shape trust and comfort with AI systems, complicating efforts to establish uniform global standards [2]. Separately, some European and American cities have begun banning biometric recognition systems in public places, moving in the opposite direction to China, where such technologies are deployed as government policy for population monitoring [5]. A 2022 study highlighted vulnerabilities in facial recognition systems, demonstrating how presentation attacks can fool biometric security, and raised ten concerns about citizen data protection in what it termed the "Age of Artificial Intelligence" [5]. Cooper also warned that the climate crisis, irregular migration, and foreign interference in western liberal democracy are compounding threats to global security [1]. On the Middle East, she expressed concern that a 20-point peace plan for Palestine was "running into the ground" as international attention shifts to other regions [1]. She argued for a new, structured relationship between the UK and Europe, including a "more European Nato at its core" and a closer but stable partnership with the EU rather than "endless incremental bargaining" [1].