NEW DELHI: Sam Altman, head of ChatGPT maker OpenAI, told a global artificial intelligence conference on Thursday that the world "urgently" needs to regulate the fast-evolving technology.

An organization could be set up to coordinate these efforts, similar to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), he said.

Altman is one of a host of top tech CEOs in New Delhi for the AI Impact Summit, the fourth annual global meeting on how to handle advanced computing power.

"For an obvious example, there'll be extremely capable biomodels available open-source that could help people create new pathogens, he said on stage.

"We need a society-wide approach about how we're going to defend against this."

Frenzied demand for generative AI has turbocharged profits for many companies while fuelling anxiety about the risks to individuals and the planet.

"Democratisation of AI is the best way to ensure humanity flourishes," Altman said, adding that "centralisation of this technology in one company or country could lead to ruin".

"This is not to suggest that we won't need any regulation or safeguards," he said.

"We obviously do, urgently, like we have for other powerful technologies."

Many researchers and campaigners say stronger action is needed to combat emerging issues, ranging from job disruption to sexualised deepfakes and AI-enabled online scams.

"We expect the world may need something like the IAEA for international coordination of AI," with the ability to "rapidly respond to changing circumstances", Altman said.

"The next few years will test global society as this technology continues to improve at a rapid pace. We can choose to either empower people or concentrate power," he added.

"Technology always disrupts jobs; we always find new and better things to do."

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OpenAI's Altman says world 'urgently' needs AI regulation