Ursula von der Leyen

President of the European Commission who cites the extinction-risk warning of AI scientists, calls for binding guardrails and independent scientific checks, and frames the EU AI Act as the world’s first comprehensive AI law.

Roles

17 Dec 2013 – 17 Jul 2019Federal Minister of Defence, Government of GermanySource →
1 Dec 2019 – presentPresident of the European Commission, European CommissionRe-elected by the European Parliament on 18 July 2024 for a second five-year term.Source →

On the record

12 May 2026 · Speech · European Summit on Artificial Intelligence and Children, Copenhagen
With the rapid advance of artificial intelligence, these risks are multiplying fast.
President of the European Commission, European Commission at the time
Same speech: "Children are not commodities, and no tech company in the world should be allowed to treat them as such."
Keynote address by President von der Leyen at the European Summit on Artificial Intelligence and Children →
11 Feb 2025 · Speech · Artificial Intelligence Action Summit, Paris
AI needs competition but also collaboration. And AI needs the confidence of people and has to be safe. This is the purpose of the AI Act – to provide for one single set of safety rules across the European Union.
President of the European Commission, European Commission at the time
The same speech launched the EUR 200 billion InvestAI initiative.
Speech by President von der Leyen at the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit →
2 Nov 2023 · Speech · AI Safety Summit, Bletchley Park
Guardrails are not barriers – they allow the traffic to keep to the road and proceed safely.
President of the European Commission, European Commission at the time
Same speech: "The greater the AI model's capability and attendant risks, the greater the responsibility" and a call for "a system of objective scientific checks and balances".
Remarks of President von der Leyen at the Bletchley Park AI Safety Summit →
13 Sept 2023 · Speech · European Parliament, State of the Union address
AI is a general technology that is accessible, powerful and adaptable for a vast range of uses - both civilian and military. And it is moving faster than even its developers anticipated. So we have a narrowing window of opportunity to guide this technology responsibly.
President of the European Commission, European Commission at the time
In the same passage she quotes the CAIS statement verbatim ("Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war") and proposes a global framework built on guardrails, governance and guiding innovation.
2023 State of the Union Address by President von der Leyen →