The Duke of Sussex has warned AI is learning “how to enter our relationships” as he urged the world not to wait and see before protecting children from online harm.
Harry delivered an impassioned seven-minute speech at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York on Wednesday, travelling back to the US for his first public appearance Stateside since returning to live in the UK.
But he had to cut short his delivery due to technical problems, after saying: “The damage was already done to a generation of children and parents. We do not have years for what comes next”, before giving a long pause and adding: “And that’s it.”
A spokesman for the duke confirmed there had been a fault with the teleprompter.
Harry took part in the first main stage session of day called Getting Disruption Right and spoke of parents who had already mourned the loss of children who took their own lives after being “engulfed by social media”.
He described how new lawsuits had been filed and settled, alleging that AI companion chatbots had contributed to the deaths of teenagers “who trusted them with things no child should have been left alone to ask an algorithm”.
The duke spoke of a growing threat from AI, saying: “It’s the same playbook that built the last crisis — only now the technology is more persuasive, more intimate, and more powerful.
“And there is another difference this time.
“Social media learned how to capture our attention. AI is learning how to enter our relationships.”
He added: “It doesn’t just want your attention, it wants your attachment. It wants to be the thing you confide in.
“The thing that remembers you. The thing that tells you it understands you. The ultimate sycophant. For a child, that distinction matters enormously.
“We have spent years trying to loosen technology’s grip on children’s attention. We cannot wait another decade to discover what happens when technology has a grip on their relationships.”
Harry and the Duchess of Sussex’s Archewell foundation launched the Parents Network in 2024 as a support network for parents of children affected by online harm.
The duke walked across the stage against a backdrop of lock screen photos of children who took their own lives or suffered serious harm through experiences on social media.
He addressed the rapid development of AI and the concerns raised by those building AI systems.
And he spoke of the progress in American courts against firms such as Meta and moves to ban youngsters’ access to social media, but he added: “Bans, settlements, and payouts are incomplete remedies. Bans do nothing to address dangerous design.”
The duke added: “The good news: we proved pressure works. The bad news: we proved how long we are willing to wait.
“The damage was already done to a generation of children and parents. We do not have years for what comes next.”
The session also featured, among others, former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton.
The duke made his appearance as his uncle Earl Spencer continued to defend his controversial memoir about Diana, Princess of Wales.
Charles Spencer claims in his book that the King, then the Prince of Wales, said about Diana “we’ll forget her soon enough” during an argument over whether the then Princes William and Harry should walk behind their mother’s coffin in her funeral procession.
The two-day CGI annual meeting is being hosted by former US president Bill Clinton, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton in a bid to bring together leaders to help solve the urgent global issues.
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