Tech entrepreneur Ian Hogarth has been nominated to chair the Foundation Model Task Force in Downing Street, Sky News reports.
The Prime Minister has put the tech entrepreneur, co-founder of music industry business Sonkick, at the spearhead of a £100 million government task force set up to boost the UK’s future artificial intelligence capabilities.
Sky News has learned that Ian Hogarth, who is currently investing in dozens of start-ups, is the frontrunner to chair the Foundation Model Task Force (FMT) announced by Rishi Sunak in April. rice field.
A Whitehall official said Hogarth had emerged as the frontrunner for the post in recent days.
A Foundation Model Task Force has been established to accelerate the adoption of safe safeguards in the UK. AI Models in areas such as ChatGPT and “large language” platforms such as Google’s Bard have come under intense scrutiny in recent months.
The government is modeled after the Covid-19 Vaccine Task Force and is likely to allocate additional funding in the future, the people said.
“The Task Force will play a key role in ensuring that the large multi-year funding announced in the Computing Budget is strategically invested in prioritizing and enhancing the UK’s foundational modeling capabilities. deaf,” the government said in April.
Sunak met with US President Joe Biden last week to discuss the future opportunities and threats posed by AI.
The government then announced that the UK would host a world summit in the fall to discuss regulatory “guardrails” to mitigate future risks from the technology.
The Prime Minister is determined to establish and oversee the UK as a global hub for AI technology development, seeking to demonstrate that a post-Brexit UK can become an international destination for large-scale technology investment. ing.
In announcing FMT, Sunak said, “Harnessing the potential of AI presents a huge opportunity to grow the economy, create better-paying jobs and build a better future through advances in health care and security. ‘ said.
“Investing in emerging technologies through our new specialized task force will help us continue to lead the development of safe and trustworthy AI as part of shaping a more innovative UK economy.”
Last month, he met with executives from tech giants, including OpenAI and Google parent Alphabet, to discuss the sudden explosion of AI adoption across the economy.
Last week, another entrepreneur, Matt Clifford, head of the government’s Agency for Advanced Research and Innovation, issued another warning about the technology.
“If you try to build an artificial intelligence that is smarter than humans, and you don’t know how to control it, you have the potential for all sorts of risks, both now and in the future… it’s the right thing to do.” It should be very high on the agenda of policy makers,” he said.
Clifford also advised on the establishment of FMT, according to a government announcement in April.
A government official said Hogarth’s appointment may not happen yet, but a decision could be made soon as London Tech Week takes place this week.
Hogarth is a Visiting Professor of Practice at the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purposes (IIPP) and has invested in more than 40 startups, according to his online biography.
He is also a partner at Plural Platforms, a venture capital firm.
He orchestrated the sale of Songkick following an antitrust lawsuit that resulted in a $130 million settlement from Ticketmaster.
A government spokesperson said, “The recruitment process for the chairman of the Foundation Model Task Force continues to be ongoing.”
