Global Regulators and Experts Push for AI Safety Standards

Regulators in the financial and pharmaceutical sectors are deploying new frameworks to manage artificial intelligence risks. The Conference of State Bank Supervisors released an AI supervisory framework on September 16, following guidance issued by the New York State Department of Financial Services on September 10. Both agencies emphasize governance and third-party vendor oversight for regulated entities.

In the pharmaceutical sector, the Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency have established 10 joint guiding principles for AI in medicinal product development. During the RAPS Convergence 2026 event, FDA officials noted a surge of over 1,500 AI-related submissions, prompting a shift toward risk-based regulatory decision-making to ensure patient safety.

Parallel to these sectoral efforts, more than 100 AI experts, coordinated by the AI Evaluator Forum, signed an open letter demanding that frontier AI companies embed independent third-party organizations to assess technology risks. This push follows cybersecurity incidents involving models from Google, Anthropic, and OpenAI. Professor Stan Karanasios has further proposed an international AI governing body modeled after nuclear and aviation agencies to mandate global safety audits.

Legislative responses vary by region. While the European Union has implemented the AI Act and Australia is proposing national standards, formal regulation in the United States has stalled due to opposition from President Donald Trump. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has advocated for global rules to ensure humans maintain control over the technology.