UK delays plans to regulate AI as ministers seek to align with Trump administration
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.
Speaking to the committee in December, Peter Kyle, the science and technology secretary, appeared to suggest the AI bill was at an advantaged stage. But earlier this month Patrick Vallance, the science minister, told MPs that 'there is no bill at the moment'.
A government spokesperson said: 'This government remains committed to bringing forward legislation which allows us to safely realise the enormous benefits of AI for years to come.
'As you would expect, we are continuing to engage extensively to refine our proposals and will launch a public consultation in due course to ensure our approach is future-proofed and effective against this fast-evolving technology.'
Ministers are under pressure over separate plans to allow AI companies to draw on online material including creative work to train their models without needing copyright permission.
Sign up to First Edition
Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters
after newsletter promotion
Artists including Paul McCartney and Elton John are campaigning against the move, which they have warned would allow firms to 'ride roughshod over the traditional copyright laws that protect artists' livelihoods'.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
19 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS ABC News star SUSPENDED over late-night clash with Trump and top White House officials
ABC News' political correspondent Terry Moran has been suspended after slamming a Trump adviser in a late night post to his social media. Moran, who sat down with the president in April, hit out at his Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller as being 'richly endowed with the capacity for hatred'. In a now deleted post to his X account, the ABC News correspondent said that Miller was the 'bile' behind the Trumpist movement. Moran said: 'Miller is a man who is richly endowed with the capacity for hatred. He's a world class hater. 'You can see this just by looking at him because you can see that his hatreds are his spiritual nourishment. He east his hate. 'Trump is a world-class hater. But his hatred only a means to an end, and that end his own glorification. That's his spiritual nourishment.' In a statement to Deadline, the network said: 'ABC News stands for objectivity and impartiality in its news coverage and does not condone subjective personal attacks on others. 'The post does not reflect the views of ABC News and violated our standards — as a result, Terry Moran has been suspended pending further evaluation.' In a now deleted post to his X account, the ABC News correspondent said that Miller was the 'bile' behind the Trumpist movement The late night tirade was deleted but not before screenshots of his post were shared elsewhere on the site. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt posted it on her own page, and blasted the comments. She said: 'Last night, in a since deleted post, so-called 'journalist' @TerryMoran went on a rampage against Stephen Miller and called President Trump 'a world class hater.' 'This is unhinged and unacceptable. We have reached out to @ABC to inquire about how they plan to hold Terry accountable.' Miller also waded in, saying: 'The most important fact about Terry's full public meltdown is what it shows about the corporate press in America. 'For decades, the privileged anchors and reporters narrating and gatekeeping our society have been radicals adopting a journalist's pose. Terry pulled off his mask.' Moran currently covers the White House, Supreme Court and presidential campaigns for the outlet. He had been hand-picked by Trump, he claimed, to sit down with the president for his first interview with the network since he won a $15 million lawsuit against ABC. The late night tirade about Miller, seen here, was deleted but not before screenshots of his post were shared elsewhere on the site In a heated moment where Moran attempted to fact-check Trump, the president revealed that the choice wasn't exactly a compliment. 'They're giving you the big break of a lifetime. I picked you to do the interview because frankly, I'd never heard of you, but you're not being very nice,' Trump said. The comments about Miller, seen as an immigration hardliner, came as pro-migrant riots in California raged on - resulting in Trump calling in the national guard.
The Independent
28 minutes ago
- The Independent
National Guard troops arrive in Los Angeles on Trump's orders to quell immigration protests
National Guard troops began arriving in Los Angeles early Sunday on orders from President Donald Trump in response to clashes in recent days between federal immigration authorities and protesters seeking to block them from carrying out deportations. Members of California's National Guard were seen staging early Sunday at the federal complex in downtown Los Angeles that includes the Metropolitan Detention Center, one of several sites that have seen confrontations involving hundreds of people in last two days. The troops included members of the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, according to a social media post from the Department of Defense that showed dozens of National Guard members with long guns and an armored vehicle. Trump has said he is deploying 2,000 California National Guard troops to Los Angeles to quell the protests, which he called 'a form of rebellion.' Early Sunday, the deployment was limited to a small area in downtown Los Angeles. The protests have been relatively small and limited to a downtown section. The rest of the city of 4 million people is largely unaffected. Their arrival follows clashes near a Home Depot in the heavily Latino city of Paramount, south of Los Angeles. As protesters sought to block Border Patrol vehicles, with some hurling rocks and chunks of cement, federal agents unleashed tear gas, flash-bang explosives and pepper balls. Tensions were high after a series of sweeps by immigration authorities the previous day, as the weeklong tally of immigrant arrests in the city climbed past 100. A prominent union leader was arrested while protesting and accused of impeding law enforcement. On Sunday morning, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the National Guard would 'keep peace and allow people to be able to protest but also to keep law and order.' In a signal of the administration's aggressive approach, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also threatened to deploy active-duty Marines 'if violence continues' in the region. The move came over the objections of Gov. Gavin Newsome, marking the first time in decades that a state's national guard was activated without a request from its governor, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. Newsom, a Democrat, said Trump's decision to call in the National Guard was 'purposefully inflammatory." He described Hegseth's threat to deploy Marines on American soil as 'deranged behavior.' Trump's order came after clashes in Paramount and neighboring Compton, where a car was set on fire. Protests continued into the evening in Paramount, with several hundred demonstrators gathered near a doughnut shop, and authorities holding up barbed wire to keep the crowd back. Crowds also gathered again outside federal buildings in downtown Los Angeles, including a detention center, where local police declared an unlawful assembly and began to arrest people.
The Guardian
33 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Campainers urge UK watchdog to limit use of AI after report of Meta's plan to automate checks
Internet safety campaigners have urged the UK's communications watchdog to limit the use of artificial intelligence in crucial risk assessments following a report that Mark Zuckerberg's Meta was planning to automate checks. Ofcom said it was 'considering the concerns' raised by the letter following a report last month that up to 90% of all risk assessments at the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp would soon be carried out by AI. Social media platforms are required under the UK's Online Safety Act to gauge how harm could take place on their services and how they plan to mitigate those potential harms – with a particular focus on protecting child users and preventing illegal content from appearing. The risk assessment process is viewed as key aspect of the act. In a letter to Ofcom's chief executive, Dame Melanie Dawes, organisations including the Molly Rose Foundation, the NSPCC and the Internet Watch Foundation described the prospect of AI-driven risk assessments as a 'retrograde and highly alarming step'. 'We urge you to publicly assert that risk assessments will not normally be considered as 'suitable and sufficient', the standard required by … the Act, where these have been wholly or predominantly produced through automation.' The letter also urged the watchdog to 'challenge any assumption that platforms can choose to water down their risk assessment processes'. A spokesperson for Ofcom said: 'We've been clear that services should tell us who completed, reviewed and approved their risk assessment. We are considering the concerns raised in this letter and will respond in due course.' Sign up to TechScape A weekly dive in to how technology is shaping our lives after newsletter promotion Meta said the letter deliberately misstated the company's approach on safety and it was committed to high standards and complying with regulations. 'We are not using AI to make decisions about risk,' said a Meta spokesperson. 'Rather, our experts built a tool that helps teams identify when legal and policy requirements apply to specific products. We use technology, overseen by humans, to improve our ability to manage harmful content and our technological advancements have significantly improved safety outcomes.' The Molly Rose Foundation organised the letter after NPR, a US broadcaster, reported last month that updates to Meta's algorithms and new safety features will mostly be approved by an AI system and no longer scrutinised by staffers. According to one former Meta executive, who spoke to NPR anonymously, the change will allow the company to launch app updates and features on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp more quickly but would create 'higher risks' for users, because potential problems are less likely to be prevented before a new product is released to the public. NPR also reported that Meta was considering automating reviews for sensitive areas including youth risk and monitoring the spread of falsehoods.
