King brings rivals together, but will summit produce anything concrete?published at 13:48 BST

13:48 BST

Shiona McCallum
Senior technology reporter, at Dumfries House

Image source, Reuters

While the Prince and Princess of Wales undertake engagements in the Isle of Bute, let's look at what King Charles's AI summit means.

Here at Dumfries House, the King has met and addressed some of the people leading the development of AI.

As he greeted senior execs from Anthropic and OpenAI, he joked: “you are rivals aren’t you?” The room laughed.

But that brief exchange went to the heart of what the King has achieved by convening this gathering, whose guest list has been in the works for around six months.

The companies represented here are commercial competitors and there are significant differences between their thoughts on how quickly AI should advance and who should oversee its safety.

Some industry leaders now argue development of the most powerful AI systems should be deliberately slowed to allow safeguards to catch up.

But Nvidia boss Jensen Huang, also in the room, takes a different position - he says companies should continue moving quickly, holding back individual products if they believe they are unsafe.

The King cannot regulate this tech. He is attempting to bring rivals together and explore whether they can develop shared principles that keep AI in the service of humanity.

The real meat of the discussions are taking place privately. The question is whether today’s workshops will actually produce anything concrete.

Image source, PA Media

While King Charles opens the AI summit, elsewhere in Scotland, Prince William and Catherine are visiting the Isle of Bute.

They're first meeting the Bute Shinty Club, where the traditional Scottish sport has been played for generations.

In Scotland, the pair are known as the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay, which is the main town on Bute.

Their first official visit to the island aims to highlight the power of community and connection.

They will also visit a community-owned pub and hear about those working to protect the island's natural environment.

Image source, PA Media

In a speech opening the AI summit, King Charles III tells industry leaders that there is an "urgency in adequately considering the existential dangers" of AI falling "into the wrong hands".

He says AI's powers could potentially be used in "catastrophic ways", adding this surely means sufficient controls are needed "before it is all too late".

"The development of AI - its substance and its pace - are both intriguing and deeply concerning in equal measure," he says.

"Our humanity must remain sacred," he says, adding that decisions made now will shape the world for future generations.

The public is "anxiously seeking your reassurance that we will not lose control of our destiny, or our souls".

"The decisions taken at this formative time will shape the world inherited by future generations," he adds.

"And so, the task before you is not merely to advance technology, but to ensure that it remains firmly in the service of humanity, community and the natural world."

Image source, PA Media

The AI summit in Dumfries House - which serves as the headquarters for The King's Foundation - is under way.

From royalty to AI leaders, MPs and a Vatican adviser, here are some of the key people in attendance:

• King Charles III
• Nvidia President and chief executive Jensen Huang
• Sir Demis Hassabis, co-founder of Google DeepMind
• Dame Antonia Romeo, Head of the Civil Service
• Kanishka Narayan MP, Minister for AI
• Vatican AI adviser Father Paolo Benanti
• Podcaster and ex-Tory MP Rory Stewart

We've received a few more agency pictures of the AI summit under way in Ayrshire this afternoon.

The group is expected to discuss ideas on how to harness AI to benefit society, with the King asking for reassurances "that we will not lose control of our destiny".

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

We're starting to see the first pictures from the summit at Dumfries House.

Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang appears to have stopped to chat with reporters ahead of the meeting with fellow AI industry leaders and the King.

At a conference earlier in the week, he said he doesn't think new laws or regulations are needed, but instead firms should decide if they will release new versions of technology.

Image source, PA Media

Philippa Wain
Reporting from Dumfries House

Pamela, a local resident who lives near Dumfries House, tells me she hopes the King can see AI "is dangerous" and "that he says we get to a certain point and it needs to stop".

As the King is set to urge AI leaders "not to lose control of our destiny" at a summit in Dumfries House, Scotland, Pamela says she "hopes the meeting achieves something to stop [AI] in its tracks or have a kill switch".

When I asked Pamela - who did not share her surname - how artificial intelligence could affect local communities, she says: "I think it's going to take a real lot of jobs from people."

She believes the King is more outspoken, politically, that the late Queen Elizabeth II but she doesn't think he should "butt in with things like that".

"But I don't really know what his true feelings are regarding AI, but I'm hoping that he can see that it's so dangerous that he says we get to a certain point and it needs to stop."

Image source, Philippa Wain/BBC

King Charles III has arrived at Dumfries House in Ayrshire to open the AI summit.

He will convene leaders from the AI sector, the government's AI minister and thought leaders as they discuss how AI can be deployed in ways to benefit society.

We'll bring you the key lines, stick with us.

Busy royal day could be overshadowed by Palace disagreement with Diana's brotherpublished at 12:20 BST

12:20 BST

Noor Nanji
Royal correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

It is a very crowded royal day, a day in which you’re going to see the King and the Prince and Princess of Wales on official royal duties in Scotland.

But also, the non-royal in the mix, the Duke of Sussex, is going to be at an event linked to the Invictus Games in London.

Last week, the King issued a letter in which he made it clear that now that Prince Harry and Meghan are back in the UK, they remain non-working royals - they are private citizens.

There will be a lot of interest to see how these dynamics play out, and what it says about the connections and relationships within the wider royal family.

But also, on a day like this, it’s likely that a lot of that will be overshadowed by this war of words we’re seeing between the Palace and Earl Spencer.

As the royal fall out continues, we are shifting our focus back to the AI summit the King will be convening this afternoon.

Spencer row threatens to re-open an awkward and uncertain time for royalspublished at 12:13 BST

12:13 BST

Sean Coughlan
Royal correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Earl Spencer’s book about his sister Diana, Princess of Wales, has clearly touched a very raw nerve in Buckingham Palace.

The usual position for Palace officials is to grit their teeth and say nothing about allegations in books.

But in this case they’ve blasted back at the suggestion that King Charles spoke so insensitively after the death of Diana.

The message is clear enough, saying that’s not how we think it really happened.

More excerpts are due to be published by the Daily Mail, interviews will be lined up for Earl Spencer in the days ahead, and then the book itself appears next week.

So perhaps the Palace wanted to get their own version of events out there, before another narrative had taken hold.

The swift rebuttal also shows how much the death of Diana in 1997 remains a difficult subject within the royal world.

The royals, who had initially seemed out of touch with that mood of public grieving, had been at risk of losing popularity.

The claims by Earl Spencer, about the response to his sister’s death, threatens to re-open what was an awkward and uncertain time for the royals.

Image source, David Levenson/Getty Images

As the royals prepare to head out on engagements, a row continues over the publication of a book about Princess Diana's life, written by her brother Earl Spencer.

In the extract, Spencer claimed King Charles said, referring to Diana, "we'll forget her soon enough" days after her death in August 1997.

Buckingham Palace has strongly pushed back against the claim.

A spokesperson said: "While we do not comment on books as a matter of principle, His Majesty is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgement and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss."

Swan Song: Diana, My Sister is due to be published next week and is expected to be highly critical of the Royal Family. BBC News has not seen the book in full.

In the first extract from it to be made public, Earl Spencer claims to have been informed by a senior Palace aide that the young princes would walk alongside Princess Diana's coffin, which he objected to.

He claims to have received a phone call from Charles shortly after.

Earl Spencer wrote in the book: "He [Charles] unleashed down the phone what I have always taken to be his pent-up contempt for Diana, and his horror that the world was so bowled over by her death. 'Rest assured,' he hissed, 'we'll forget her soon enough'."

• We've more on this in our news story

The King has had a reputation for being a "technophobe, but actually he's followed the developments in the world of AI for many years", says Julian Payne, trustee of the King's Foundation.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Payne says the King is interested in "seeing how a fast-moving form of technology like this can be used for the good of society across communities, across economies and across jobs".

However, Payne adds that he's also "really concerned about the potential downsides".

In terms of today's meeting, he says the King doesn't tell groups what to do and what conclusions to reach, but instead "encourages the best brains to get together and debate those challenges which are facing us".

"He is keen to do whatever can be done" to avert the challenges facing us, Payne adds.

Today's summit comes as artificial intelligence faces intense scrutiny over warnings about the serious potential risks it poses to humans. Here's what industry leaders - and the US president - have been saying:

• Anthropic: Former researcher Jacob Coxon, who quit his researcher job over concerns the tech could wipe out humanity, told the BBC he and other staff were "genuinely frightened" about the speed of advancements and what it could mean for humanity
• Company chief executive Dario Amodei has called for the pace of AI development to slow down and be more closely monitored while co-founder Jack Clark said that a "kill switch" controlled by a third party may need to be mandatory for the industry
• Microsoft AI: Chief executive Mustafa Suleyman has said that unless adequate restrictions are implemented in the development of artificial intelligence it could lead to the emergence of a new silicon species which would compete with humans
• OpenAI: Boss Sam Altman has said people should have more faith in AI firms to keep the tech safe, but agreed with Amodei's assessment that industry-wide deceleration and regulation are needed
• xAI: Elon Musk also said there is"overwhelming consensus" for regulation on artificial intelligence
• Nvidia: Boss Jensen Huang said it should be down to firms to decide whether new tech should be released, and said there's no need for new laws or regulation

• Donald Trump: The US president has said concerns over AI are a "hoax", saying that the only "guardrails" needed for AI is a "strong and smart" president

Image source, Samir Hussein/WireImage

King Charles III is in Scotland today, hosting representatives of major AI companies including Nvidia, OpenAI and Anthropic, as well as the UK minister for AI Kanishka Narayan.

They will discuss ideas on how to harness the technology to benefit society.

In his opening remarks, he's expected to call on AI leaders to prevent the tech from becoming a destructive force and appeal for reassurances "that we will not lose control of our destiny".

"The development of AI - its substance and its pace - are both intriguing and deeply concerning in equal measure," he will say.

He will ask how the benefits of AI can be harnessed while ensuring that it remains safe, and raise the issue of whether there can be international co-operation in protecting it from being misused.

"The decisions taken at this formative time will shape the world inherited by future generations," he will say.

"And so, the task before you is not merely to advance technology, but to ensure that it remains firmly in the service of humanity, community and the natural world."

Image source, Getty Images

Today, King Charles III, the Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales and the Duke of Sussex will all be attending engagements.

It's the first time they have all been out in public since Prince Harry and Meghan returned to the UK, but Meghan is not expected to attend the event alongside her husband.

The King will host AI leaders and others at a summit in Scotland, the Duke of Sussex is attending an event for the Invictus Games while Prince William and Catherine visit the Isle of Bute.

The events are being overshadowed by the fall out between Buckingham Palace and Earl Spencer, the brother of Diana, Princess of Wales, over a controversial memoir about her life and death.

We'll be bringing you live updates and analysis through the day as the royals undertake their engagements, so stick with us.