# Davey calls for AI non-proliferation treaty

> Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey will propose a global nuclear-style treaty to halt super-intelligent AI development, comparing it to an arms race.
- Title: Davey calls for AI non-proliferation treaty · the Guardian
- Summary: Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey will propose a global nuclear-style treaty to halt super-intelligent AI development, comparing it to an arms race. Ed Davey…
- Keywords: ed davey, liberal democrats, artificial intelligence, ai safety, non-proliferation treaty, brighton conference, international regulation, news, world, Davey, calls, non-proliferation
- Source: the Guardian — https://theguardian.com/politics/2026/sep/21/halt-super-intelligent-ai-ed-davey-lib-dem-conference
- Published: 2026-09-21T21:30:26+00:00
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: ed davey, liberal democrats, artificial intelligence, ai safety, non-proliferation treaty, brighton conference, international regulation, news, world
## Davey proposes AI non-proliferation treaty
Ed Davey, Liberal Democrat leader, will call for a global nuclear-style non-proliferation treaty to halt super-intelligent AI development at his party's Brighton conference.
## Comparing AI to nuclear arms race
Davey will compare super-intelligent AI development to a nuclear arms race that could result in technology capable of destroying humanity within the decade.
## New international AI safety agency planned
Davey will propose a new international AI safety agency modelled on the International Atomic Energy Agency and headquartered in the UK to regulate super-intelligent AI development.
## Tech billionaires cannot be trusted
Davey will argue that AI's future cannot be left to Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman or Elon Musk, saying nations must work together as they did with nuclear weapons.

> We didn't leave the atom bomb to a few billionaires to police themselves.
## Criticises UK-US AI partnership
Davey will say the prime minister's new AI partnership with the US does not meet the scale of the threat and risks making Britain dependent on a Trump administration influenced by tech companies.
## Lib Dems announce big tech levy
The party's home affairs spokesperson Max Wilkinson announced a proposed big tech levy and a new online crime agency to tackle child sexual abuse material, drug and weapons trafficking, and deepfake pornography.
## Meta smart glasses regulation proposed
Wilkinson called Meta's smart glasses perv goggles, saying they allow people to record others without consent or warning, particularly women, and must be properly regulated.

> This is becoming the new norm, because this government won't stand up to big tech to protect our civil liberties.
## Davey defends party's policy focus
Davey told the BBC the party has well thought through policies to cut taxes, including a ten pence per litre fuel duty cut for three months and reducing the bus fare cap from three pounds to one pound.
## Key takeaway

Ed Davey will call for a global non-proliferation treaty on super-intelligent AI, modelled on nuclear weapons controls, at the Liberal Democrat conference in Brighton.