Comment by Elliot Jones

Preventing narrowly commercial interests from dominating a CERN for AI would require vigilant governance. That said, the governance structure of CERN could provide a template for its AI-focused equivalent: CERN’s multinational membership and interdisciplinary focus insulate it from capture by special interests, and provide a diversity of input to counter corporate influence. CERN is run by a council of its member states, with two delegates each (one representing government, the other national scientific interests); each member state has a single vote, and the council operates on a simple majority vote for decision-making. This also ensures no single member state can abuse its position within CERN – and provides a measure of protection against risks associated with the actions of individual states, as seen in the council’s suspension of Russia’s scientific observer status in March 2022 after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.