AI X-Risks and Council of Europe and Human Rights

Brussels

Bringing together legal expertise and civil society input to encourage Council of Europe action on AI x-risks and build legal knowledge at the intersection of AI x-risks and the ECHR.

Endorsed by+3

Bringing together legal expertise and civil society input to encourage Council of Europe action on AI x-risks and build legal knowledge at the intersection of AI x-risks and the ECHR.

Endorsed by+3

Project Details

We have a contact at the Council of Europe who is enthusiastic about organising an event focused on giving greater voice to AI safety and governance advocacy. This event is a way to help counterbalance the influence of Big Tech lobbying in AI policy discussions by bringing in more civil society perspectives. We not only want to have a high-level dialogue but also bring a concrete proposal for action.
To develop informed proposals, we first want to organise a legal hackathon and/or meet-up exploring how the Council of Europe could contribute to reducing catastrophic and existential AI risks, and how these risks may affect rights protected under the European Convention on Human Rights. We are also interested in the access to justice issue. Existing standing rules are often built around individualised and concrete harm, while large-scale societal AI risks may be diffuse, collective, irreversible and future-facing. We want participants to explore legal and institutional reforms that could help address this gap.
The hackathon and meet-up would inform a short proposal paper, which we would bring to the Council of Europe event. Subject to funding, we would also invite selected participants from these activities to attend.
Strategic communication will be an important part of the project, and we will ensure that the main insights from the hackathon, meet-up, and Council of Europe event are communicated to key stakeholders in a way that maximises their impact.
Here's an introduction to our organisation.
Law for AI Safety Team:
- Raphaël Weuts: EU AI law and governance expert; author of On Accuracy of European AI Law (2026); advised the Belgian government and MEPs on the EU AI Act/GPAI Code; developed INASTI-RSVZ’s framework; led medical AI projects; former visiting professor in AI.
- Karolina Gruzel: Successif's AI Policy Strategy Fellow, successfully managed cyber attribution legal project; founded Moral Ambition for AI; op-eds (one, two, three), supported GAIGANow development and communications; Educational background in European and International Law and PPE.
- Cristian Teodorescu: Senior government/industry/ngo professional; awarded multiple times for humanitarian work; internal distinctions for inter-agency cooperation with the EU; granted off-cycle promotion for resilient and effective leadership on high-impact international affairs projects; given the highest-level national security clearance of an EU member state; Educational background in Human Rights Law.
- Raluca Spataru: Romanian lawyer with 15 years’ experience.
- Didier Coeurnelle: AI governance advocate, co-organised PauseCon Brussels, ordered a global ASI attitudes poll, speaker at WSIS Forum 2026 and LSAIR 2026, published author and active in civil society, including the Steering Committee of Global AI Governance Alliance; Belgian lawyer.
- Anonymous (see private information) - Senior Ops and Finance professional.
- Two volunteers, Julia (graphic designer) and Harry (website designer)

Theory of Impact

Theory of impact for the organisation

Theory of impact for this workstream

Activities

Organise a legal hackathon and/or meet-up
Develop a report and concrete legal proposals
Hold an event at the Council of Europe
Publish and communicate the findings

Outputs

Legal hackathon and/or meet-up delivered
European network of lawyers and civil society participants engaged
Legal gaps and possible reform options identified
Report and proposal paper produced
Council of Europe event held
Communications materials and public-facing outputs published

Interim outcomes

People

Karolina Gruzel

Team Member

Track Record

We have drafted an initial Freedom of Information (FOI) request related to advanced AI risks, aimed at Member States, and are currently finalising it following review by the Future of Life Institute team. Once we are established, the FOI requests will be submitted in a number of Member States, and we plan to report on the outcomes.
We have begun building our network. We have established a relationship with PauseAI and are working with them to update their onboarding process so that volunteers with legal backgrounds can be directed to us. Through attending conferences, we have connected with several experts in the field, including individuals involved with the EU AI Office, who have expressed a willingness to stay in touch and be informed about future opportunities for collaboration.
We have secured pro bono collaboration from a global law firm, which will help us register our NGO in Brussels and is open to supporting us further, for example by contributing some hours to our research or connecting us with lawyers interested in AI risks.
Our Board member, Didier Cournelle, introduced Law for AI Safety’s mission at the 2nd International Conference on Large-Scale AI Risks.
On 25 June, three members of our team — Raphaël Weuts, Karolina Gruzel, and Cristian Teodorescu — participated in the “AI Act in Romania: From Regulation to Implementation” conference at the European Parliament in Brussels. The event was hosted by Maria Grapini, Vice-Chair of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, and attended by, among others, Victor Negrescu, Vice-President of the European Parliament; Brando Benifei, former co-rapporteur on the EU AI Act; Martin Ulbrich, AI Policy Officer at the European Commission; and representatives of Romanian industry.

Grants Received– no grants recorded

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Funding Asks

grantmaking.ai Launch Round

AI X-Risk and the ECHR: Law for AI Safety

Applied

Minimum

$15,000

Ideal

$30,000

How the money will be spent

Project coordination and event organisation (staff time)
Legal hackathon and meet-up (venue, refreshments, and materials)
Legal research, report, and proposal paper (staff time and external legal review or contributions)
Council of Europe event (travel, accommodation, and local transport, gift for our host there)
Communications, design, and dissemination (e.g. video production, graphic design, press outreach)
Administration and contingency (accounting, unforeseen costs)

The upper end allows for wider participation, travel and accommodation for selected legal experts, external legal review and input, and higher-quality research and communications outputs.

Discussion

Genevieve SheaEndorsement11d

I appreciate the emphasis on producing concrete legal proposals rather than simply convening discussions, which makes this feel like a practical contribution to strengthening long-term AI safety and governance. There is a real need to broaden the AI safety coalition beyond technical and policy communities, and the Council of Europe is a credible venue for advancing that conversation.

Karolina Gruzel9d

Exactly, as it was mentioned in the Transformer: the AI safety movement needs normies. The broader coalition can help us drive political change.

Pim KangEndorsement11d

This is such a great project! I think AI safety should move more into working with policymakers, so this is a step in the right direction.

Karolina Gruzel9d

Thank you, Pim! And for Successif's AI Policy Strategy Fellowship insights on strategic ways os approaching the work with policymakers.

MMelody ShumEndorsement10d

This is an important intervention that fosters structural and systemic change through law, bringing civil society to the heart of policymaking.

Karolina Gruzel9d

Thank you, Melody! We do urgently need to counterweight the power concentration in Big Tech, inluding though countering the lobbying influence and testing how existing legal instruments and institutions can reduce AI risks.