Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper warns AI poses 'Hiroshima' threat without global rules

July 06, 2026

In an essay published by the Chatham House thinktank, Cooper said the world must not wait for a catastrophic AI event before taking coordinated action, arguing the technology will become the defining foreign policy challenge over the next two years.

Drawing comparisons with the nuclear weapon dropped on the Japanese city in 1945 , she wrote: "On nuclear, international agreement came only after the world saw the terrifying power of the new technology at Hiroshima – and asked what would happen if it fell into the wrong hands. We cannot afford to wait for an AI equivalent of Hiroshima before we act."

Speaking to the Guardian, Cooper said AI presents enormous opportunities but also significant dangers if hostile actors exploit the technology.

The politician said: "Across the world, people are feeling the same thing – there is amazing potential here, but there is also huge risk. We are already in a world where we have malign actors who will use technology against us – whether that be hybrid threats, whether that be state-backed criminal groups or other kinds of organisations, or extremists and terror groups."

She added: "I think AI is going to end up being the dominant foreign policy issue that we deal with over the next two years."

Cooper identified AI alongside climate change, irregular migration and foreign interference as key threats facing global security.

Her essay also argued that Europe must prepare for a future in which the United States no longer acts as the world's principal guarantor of peace and democracy, regardless of who occupies the White House.

She wrote: "We should no longer expect the US to play the role it once did. There will continue to be issues where we disagree. But reduced dependence on any single ally will make us stronger."

Cooper also called for a more structured and stable relationship between the UK and the European Union, centred on closer security cooperation.

The Labour MP wrote: "We need to develop a new, structured relationship with Europe, leading the development of its new security architecture, with a more European NATO at its core. And we must settle our relationship with the EU as a closer but stable partnership, rather than one based on endless incremental bargaining."