- British Prime Minister Rishi Snak on Monday touted the UK as a global center for AI safety, seeking to position the country as a leader in tech regulation as countries around the world vie to secure a leading role.
- “I want the UK to be not just an intellectual home, but a geographic home for global AI safety regulation,” Snak said Monday, speaking at a packed technology conference in London. .
- Sunak announced last week that the UK will host the first global AI safety summit later this year.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Snak speaks to the media during London Tech Week at the QEII Centre, June 12, 2023.
Ian Vogler | WPA Pool | Getty Images
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made a big bang to the tech community on Monday, positioning the UK as a global center for artificial intelligence and tech regulation.
“In order to not only maintain our position as one of the world’s tech hubs, but to move forward and make this country one of the best countries in the world to start growing and investing in technology businesses, We have to act quickly,” Sunak said. , spoke at a crowded tech conference in London on Monday.
“One of my five priorities is growing the economy, so I feel a sense of urgency and responsibility to make sure things get done. And the more we innovate, the more we grow.”
“I want the UK to be the geographic home of global AI safety regulation, not just the intellectual home,” added Sunak.
With the emergence of OpenAI’s ChatGPT and other generative AI tools, the UK is poised to compete with global giants in one of the most hyped tech areas today: AI.
Separately, the country has touted itself as the “next Silicon Valley,” with Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt saying that the country’s financial position would encourage more venture capital investment and the listing of high-growth technology companies. We are making some changes to the regulations.
Many of the most commercially advanced efforts on this technology have been launched in the United States by major companies such as Microsoft-backed OpenAI and technology giants such as Google (which acquired UK-based AI company DeepMind in 2014) and Meta. emanating from, especially huge investments in generative AI.
But the UK is taking steps of its own to become even more of a leader in the world of AI. In March, the government released a white paper detailing its AI regulatory plan, which aims to adopt a principles-based approach to technology rather than proposing new and customized regulations. rice field.
Sunak announced last week that the UK would host its first global AI safety summit later this year, prompting officials from the US, European Union and elsewhere to take bold positions on the UK’s position in the global regulatory debate over the technology. Aim to commit. love.
Last month, the CEOs of OpenAI, Google DeepMind and Anthropic traveled to the UK to meet with the Prime Minister on approaches to ensure the secure development of AI. AI leaders are trying to convince authorities that they have safety in mind when creating sophisticated AI models.
Currently, there are no specific regulations for AI in major developed countries. The European Union is looking to change that with the EU AI law, which parliamentarians are expected to vote on later this week. However, these laws are unlikely to be enforced until the very future.
In the UK, some of Britain’s most prestigious tech companies have shown their distaste for the UK as a place to start their tech business, and the important Cambridge-based chip design firm Arm said earlier this year it was prioritizing London. chose to list in New York. Revolt CEO says he will ‘never list’ in London due to unfavorable tax and bureaucratic regulations.
Mr Sunak on Monday hit back at naysayers about the prospects for UK technology. In a conversation with Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, Sunak said the UK is “already a great place to expand your tech business.”
“In the last ten years, [there have been] This country has more unicorns than anywhere outside the US and China. I think this is a pretty good record and a good basis for us to start, but obviously we need to stay in shape and keep pushing ourselves. ”
“Roughly half of the fastest growing innovation companies have foreign-born founders, which means we need a visa system to attract the best and brightest to the UK. I think that there.”
Hassabis, who was recently promoted to head Google’s AI research effort, said he’s seen the culture around fostering entrepreneurship in the UK change over the years.
“When we started DeepMind in 2010, things were very different then. I remember our first investor was based in the US. had to go to the U.S. and was skeptical that we would be able to build something huge,” a deep tech company outside of Silicon Valley.
“I think tech companies are a lot easier to start, very hard to grow, and it makes a lot of sense. is.”
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