GENOCIDE  WATCH

By Edith M. Lederer October 20, 2026 The United Nations is launching a new initiative on the military uses of artificial intelligence, aimed at addressing some dire concerns about the threat the rapidly developing technology could pose to humanity. Credit: Staff Sgt. Renee Seruntine/US Army National Guard The United Nations is launching a new initiative on the military uses of artificial intelligence, aimed at addressing some dire concerns about the threat the rapidly develop

By Deidre McPhillips October 10, 2026 Visitors use mobile phones as they walk past an advertisement for a virtual reality headset, displayed at the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, on February 17. (Arun Sankar/AFP/Getty Images) More than a dozen “interconnected catastrophic threats” pose significant risk to global health and wellbeing through the remainder of the 21st century, researchers say – including the potential for extinction. But targeted action from world leaders can h

By Usaid Siddiqui October 17, 2026 The deadly Tumbler Ridge shooting in Canada raises questions about when AI companies should report threats of violence to police, and the potential risks to an individual’s privacy. Credit: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images For months before carrying out Canada’s deadliest school shooting in almost four decades, Jesse Van Rootselaar was consulting an unlikely adviser on how to perpetrate mass murder. “In a hallway, indoors, or a crowded classroo

By Johana Bhuiyan and Nick Robins-Early October 14, 2026 From the FBI to local police departments, US authorities are increasinfly warning of would-be terrorists using chatbots to plan attacks and anti-AI extremist threats. Credit: The Guardian In May 2025, a 25-year-old man detonated a car bomb outside a Palm Springs fertility clinic, killing himself and injuring four others. For many, it was a wake-up call about the threats to reproductive care facilities. For the FBI, thou

by David Miliband October 19, 2026 Sergey Balakhnichev—Getty Images The debate about how to control AI and limit its potential for damage is healthy and necessary. It is also unavoidable and urgent. But this is not the only vital debate. There are also vital questions about how the upsides of AI are shared fairly. Business as usual has left the world's poorest people behind, so far. And for those caught up in conflict—in places like Sudan, Ukraine, Gaza, and Afghanistan—AI c

By Johana Bhuiyan and Nick Robins-Early October 14, 2026 From the FBI to local police departments, US authorities are increasingly warning of would-be terrorists using chatbots to plan attacks and anti-AI extremist threats A previously unreported cache of law enforcement and intelligence agency documents show that law enforcement agencies have, since 2021, considered AI both a tool and a target of would-be terrorists. Composite: The Guardian/ Getty Images In May 2025, a 25-ye

By Annie Gowen and Manas Sharma Oct. 31, 2018 Reports of hate-crime cases, many involving “cow vigilantes,” have spiked since Narendra Modi’s party came to power in 2014. Alimuddin Ansari, a van driver, knew the risks. Smuggling beef in India, where the slaughter of cows is illegal in some states, is dangerous work, and Ansari eventually attracted the notice of Hindu extremists in Jharkhand. One hot day in June 2017, they tracked him to a crowded market. When he arrived with

UNHCR July 7, 2026 This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR Senior Advisor on Information Integrity Gisella Lomax – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. Sudanese refugees using computers at a connectivity centre in Farchana refugee settlement, Chad. ©UNHCR/Insa Wawa Diatta GENEVA – UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is concerned that the spread of misinformation, hate speech and deepfakes is exacerbating and inci

By OHCHR October 16, 2026 GENEVA – World leaders must urgently hear and respond to the call for rights-based regulation of technology companies, notably those that operate in transitional settings at a time of heightened debate on the development of artificial intelligence, a UN expert said today. Presenting his new report on the impact of technologies on transitional justice to the General Assembly today, Bernard Duhaime, the UN Special Rapporteur on truth, justice, reparati