IMF Chief Calls for AI Guardrails, Likens Boom to Formula 1 Race

The head of the International Monetary Fund called on Friday for urgent guardrails to contain the risks of the artificial intelligence boom, speaking on a panel at the IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Bangkok.

We are racing, and the question is how do we put barriers? So if a car was to fly out it doesn't kill people,

Kristalina Georgieva said, comparing AI to a Formula 1 race car.

Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark, who sat on the same panel, said the risks were greater than she described.

I think it's Formula 1 at night without maybe brakes in the cars,

he said, adding that the toys he buys for his children face more regulation than the advanced AI he works on. Clark said the effort to build policy frameworks to regulate AI is underway, but did not name specific measures.

Georgieva said AI was already strengthening the global economy, but could also deliver negative shocks if it failed to deliver major productivity gains as quickly as hoped. She argued that the countries with the biggest AI sectors, including the United States, China and India, along with countries in the AI supply chain, should be involved in setting safeguards.

On jobs, she pointed to an IMF study with three trends: about 10% of jobs might be transformed or newly created, while work involving repetitive tasks will be gone, and a third group of service jobs would be created by people benefiting from the investment boom. She said the overall effect was positive, while noting that service jobs tend to pay poorly. Georgieva did not name the study or give a timeframe for the changes.

Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem compared AI's labor effects to those of open trade, which has generated great global wealth and raised millions out of poverty, and said policymakers must find ways to help those who lose out. The panel also included Spain's economy minister Carlos Cuerpo and DHL Group CEO Tobias Meyer, and was moderated by CNN's Richard Quest.

The remarks came days after the IMF flagged significant growth and financial stability risks from a potential end of the AI investment boom in its outlook at the same meetings.

Clark's toy comparison closely echoes Microsoft President Brad Smith's argument this week that washing machines face more safety rules than AI, as AI Briefing News reported. Two senior industry figures are now making the same case in public: that AI is less regulated than everyday consumer products.

The panel produced no new IMF policy proposal or commitment.