Exclusive: Government reluctant to take action that could weaken UK’s attractiveness to AI firms, says Labour source
Ministers have delayed plans to regulate artificial intelligence as the UK government seeks to align itself with Donald Trump’s administration on the technology, the Guardian has learned.
A long-awaited AI bill, which ministers had originally intended to publish before Christmas, is not expected to appear in parliament before the summer, according to three Labour sources briefed on the plans.
Ministers had intended to publish a short bill within months of entering office that would have required companies to hand over large AI models such as ChatGPT for testing by the UK’s AI Security Institute.
The bill was intended to be the government’s answer to concerns that AI models could become so advanced that they pose a risk to humanity, and were different from separate proposals to clarify how AI companies can use copyrighted material.
Trump’s election has led to a rethink, however. A senior Labour source said the bill was “properly in the background” and that there were still “no hard proposals in terms of what the legislation looks like”. “They said let’s try and get it done before Christmas – now it’s summer,” the source added.
Another Labour source briefed on the legislation said an iteration of the bill had been prepared months ago but was now up in the air because of Trump, with ministers reluctant to take action that could weaken the UK’s attractiveness to AI companies.
Trump has torpedoed plans by his predecessor Joe Biden for regulating AI and revoked an executive order on making the technology safe and trustworthy. The future of the US AI Safety Institute, founded by Biden, is uncertain after its director resigned this month. At an AI summit hosted in Paris, JD Vance, the US vice-president, railed against Europe’s planned regulation of the technology.
The UK government chose to side with the US by refusing to sign the Paris declaration endorsed by 66 other countries at the summit. Peter Mandelson, the UK’s ambassador to Washington, has reportedly drafted proposals to make the UK the main hub for US AI investment.