A British computer scientist on Tuesday urged countries to prioritise cooperation when it comes to the issue of safety in the development of artificial intelligence.

Stuart Russell, co-chair of the World Economic Forum's Council on AI, made the remarks after delivering a keynote speech at the 18th edition of the Asian Financial Forum, where he stressed the importance of governance in AI.

When asked about the latest AI chip export rules proposed by the outgoing Biden administration in the US, Russell pointed out that while competition is normal among nations and firms, cooperation should always come first when it comes to the question of safety.

"The US and China have agreed not to use AI to control the launch of nuclear weapons, which I think is pretty sensible," he said. "Safety failures damage the entire industry. So I really hope we can cooperate on this dimension."

He also referred to artificial general intelligence technology (AGI) – which is a type of AI that is equal to or surpasses human intelligence – as a source of infinite wealth, which will be responsible for the vast majority of economic output in the future.

"Arguing over who owns [AGI] is like arguing over who has more copies of the digital newspaper. Why would you argue with that when you could just make as many more copies as you want?" he said.

"If we have a source of unlimited wealth for humanity, we should just use it for humanity and not try to own it or prevent others from gaining access to it," he added.

Touching on Hong Kong's AI development potential, Russell said the city can make use of its unique financial strengths to develop targeted AI systems for its trade-related services.

The two-day financial forum hosted some 3,600 policymakers and business leaders from more than 50 countries and regions.