British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday, June 12, during a speech at a technical conference in London, called the United Kingdom the center of artificial intelligence and regulation of the technology sector.
During this speech, Sunak stated that in developing measures to regulate AI and create conditions for the active development of the technology sector, a high level of activity should be observed, adhering to the concept of the fastest possible action in order to achieve the desired result. According to him, the high speed of decision-making and their subsequent implementation will allow London to maintain its status as one of the world’s technological capitals and make the UK a country where there are conditions for the development of relevant business and a favorable environment for investors interested in financing similar projects.
The Prime Minister also stated that one of his main priorities in the framework of political activity is to ensure the growth of the economy of the United Kingdom. He noted that the active introduction of innovations can contribute to achieving this goal. Sunak separately stated that it is an urgent and responsible issue for him to determine to what extent the British political and technology sector is aware of the importance of compliance with advanced trends.
The Prime Minister has stated that he wants to make Great Britain a global center for regulating the security of artificial intelligence. Currently, the United Kingdom is actively declaring its intentions to enter the process of competing with global giants in the AI arena. After the appearance of ChatGPT from OpenAI and other tools based on generative artificial intelligence, this field of activity received the status of one of the most promising, which is justified.
The UK is also currently positioning itself as the next Silicon Valley. The Chancellor of the Treasury of the United Kingdom, Jeremy Hunt, is implementing reforms in the financial regulation system, which are aimed at stimulating venture investment in technology companies that demonstrate rapid growth, and active interaction of listed firms with representatives of the AI industry.
Currently, most of the advanced technological developments in the field of artificial intelligence are the result of the efforts of companies from the United States. For example, Microsoft invested in OpenAI. Google bought the promising British AI company DeepMind in 2014. Meta directs significant investments into developments related to generative artificial intelligence. Against this background, the UK is striving to implement its strategy of activities aimed at making the United Kingdom a leader or occupying one of the main positions in the field of AI.
In March of this year, the British government published a plan to regulate artificial intelligence. This concept of legal control is based on the already existing principles of the approach to technologies and is not a set of new individual rules.
Sunak last week announced that the first global summit on the security of artificial intelligence will be held in the UK by the end of 2023. This event will have a certain symbolic significance since it will become a kind of active statement of the United Kingdom about active participation in the global normative discourse. Currently, the United States, the countries of the European Union, and many other states of the world are striving to create a concept of control over the development of artificial intelligence.
Last month, the heads of OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Anthropic visited the UK and met with Sunak to discuss potentially possible approaches to ensuring the safe development of AI. Industry leaders are currently actively convincing the authorities that they take into account the security factor when creating advanced models of artificial intelligence.
So far, no major developed country has a full-fledged legislative framework for regulating AI. The EU is trying to move forward on this issue with the help of the Artificial Intelligence Law, which will be voted on this week. But experts are convinced that clearly defined regulatory measures will not come into force in the near future.
Many tech companies do not perceive the UK as a favorable place to do business. The Cambridge-based chip development firm Arm has listed in New York, not London. The CEO of Revolut stated that he would never place a listing in the British capital, explaining his position by bureaucratic regulation and unfavorable tax policy.
On Monday, Sunak, in a conversation with Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, said that the United Kingdom is already a great place to expand the technology business. In this context, he separately mentioned that about half of British fast-growing innovative companies have founders of foreign origin.
As we have reported earlier, Altman Calls On China to Help Shape AI Safety Guidelines.
