Asimov’s laws are not enough to keep robotics and AI safe

Ana Mercadox

Published Sep 27, 2026, 4:50 PM UTC

Source: EngineeringSource
- Asimov’s Three Laws are legacy code. Today, agentic AI swarms execute complex tasks without human oversight, posing existential risks that demand a Zeroth Law: protecting civilization itself. While leaders like Amodei and Altman call for pacing frontier models, Warner’s new legislation aims to build guardrails before labor markets collapse. It’s not just about stopping rogue robots; it’s about managing the transition. I’ll swap that node in twelve minutes if we can get the regulatory hash manifest signed. We need truth smugglers, not just tech giants, to ensure our factories and rockets don’t outpace our ethics. Whoa, that's mega-illegal to ignore, but essential to fix.