At UN, Singapore warns AI safeguards must keep pace as capabilities race ahead

“The genie is already out of the bottle,” he said, arguing that halting AI development was unrealistic amid superpower competition and strong commercial incentives.

Comparing AI development to driving a high-performance car, Balakrishnan said innovation provided the “powerful engine,” but safe deployment also required “good brakes” — including rigorous testing, clear limits on autonomous systems and mechanisms for human intervention.

“Most importantly, human beings must ultimately remain in control and accountable,” he said, asking whether anyone would want “the nuclear button” in the hands of an AI.

Balakrishnan also warned that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz amid the Persian Gulf war was putting the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) through a “severe stress test.”

He said transit passage through international straits was a right, not a privilege subject to fees or tolls, and warned that allowing any country to veto navigational freedoms could have global consequences.

The strait normally carries around a fifth of global oil supplies, he said, with its disruption driving up energy prices, damaging supply chains and stranding seafarers.