NUS Law Professor Chesterman: Era of AI Self-Governance Is Over

On September 28, Simon Chesterman, a law professor at the National University of Singapore, posted a series of tweets laying out his views on AI governance, concluding that "the days of letting new silicon sovereigns govern themselves are over." This echoes an article he published in the American Journal of International Law.

Confirmed

• Chesterman noted that AI systems are growing increasingly capable, and the harms they cause are no longer confined to the digital world—real-world consequences are becoming more likely.
• He argued that even if one trusts frontier AI companies to do the right thing, recent events have exposed the limits of voluntary self-regulation, as increasingly autonomous systems become harder to evaluate and constrain.
• Citing the "Butlerian Jihad"—the AI ban in Dune—he pointed out that simply prohibiting AI is not feasible in reality, so countries need real domestic regulation, or at minimum international-level coordination.
• On international coordination, he advocated drawing on institutional models like the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); the point is not to liken AI to nuclear technology, but that genuine international institutions can build shared expectations, facilitate information sharing, and provide verification mechanisms.
• He also highlighted Singapore's unique role: while it will not lead frontier AI technology, it can offer an increasingly scarce resource—trust. Highly educated and highly connected, with deep cultural and economic ties to both dominant AI powers, Singapore is well positioned to play a distinctive role in coordinating international AI governance.

Why it matters

• Bureaucracies facing change often say "never let a good crisis go to waste." Chesterman used this to suggest that if the recent crises in AI are serious enough, they may drive substantive action—otherwise, we may have to wait for something worse to happen. This argument offers a concrete path from international legal scholarship for moving global AI governance "from talk to action," and positions Singapore as a potential coordinator.

2026-09-28 ~ 2026-09-28 · 9 related posts

• [source] "The days of letting our silicon sovereigns govern themselves are over" — ProfChesterman · 2026-09-28
• AI harms are no longer confined to the digital world, Chesterman warns — ProfChesterman · 2026-09-28
• Voluntary AI self-regulation has hit its limits, argues Chesterman — ProfChesterman · 2026-09-28
• Singapore's unusual position: strong ties to both leading AI powers — ProfChesterman · 2026-09-28
• No Butlerian Jihad: Chesterman calls for national AI regulation and international coordination — ProfChesterman · 2026-09-28
• Chesterman: the IAEA model shows how international institutions could govern AI — ProfChesterman · 2026-09-28
• Singapore can offer AI governance something scarce: trust, says Chesterman — ProfChesterman · 2026-09-28
• [source] AI law scholar Chesterman: don't waste a crisis to rein in self-governing AI — ProfChesterman · 2026-09-28
• [source] Chesterman's AJIL essay "Silicon Sovereigns": AI, international law, and the tech-industrial complex — ProfChesterman · 2026-09-28