The UK and the US established a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on AI security.

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and UK Tech Minister Michelle Donelan shook on the bilateral settlement, with Minister Donelan describing AI as “the defining know-how problem of our era.” 

The partnership builds on the commitments made in the course of the AI Security Summit at Bletchley Park in November 2023.

This groundbreaking summit convened main figures within the AI trade and political representatives from a number of nations, together with a uncommon collaboration between the US and China. 

The summit additionally led to the creation of “AI Security Institutes” within the UK and the US devoted to evaluating open- and closed-source AI programs. 

Secretary Raimondo spoke of the settlement, “It would speed up each of our Institutes’ work throughout the complete spectrum of dangers, whether or not to our nationwide safety or to our broader society.” 

Raimondo continued, “Our partnership makes clear that we aren’t working away from these considerations – we’re working at them.”

With this new settlement, UK and US researchers will run joint security evaluations, conduct joint testing workouts, “pink teaming,” and share experience. 

Donselan was hopeful about making a secure path ahead for AI, stating, “Solely by working collectively can we handle the know-how’s dangers head on and harness its huge potential to assist us all reside simpler and more healthy lives, emphasizing the worldwide influence of the viewers’s position in AI security.”

AI trade regulation has turn into stitched collectively by a patchwork of voluntary agreements and frameworks.

As an example, final 12 months, the Biden administration expanded its voluntary security framework to tech firms equivalent to Adobe, IBM, Nvidia, and Salesforce, which joined present contributors like Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI. 

Such voluntary commitments are stacking up, however many are doubtful of their efficacy. Speak is reasonable, and the tech trade hasn’t been historically profitable in self-regulating. 

The UK nonetheless largely lacks AI regulation

This bilateral settlement might be essential for the UK, which lacks virtually any type of AI regulation within the absence of the European Union’s AI Act.

The AI Act, which begins its phased rollout this 12 months, mandates transparency and threat evaluation for AI programs. The UK doesn’t routinely decide into EU rules post-Brexit and has been sluggish in establishing its personal guidelines.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak needed to advertise a “pro-innovation” framework within the UK, hinting at a deregulated atmosphere. 

This US-UK settlement differentiates the UK from the EU’s regulatory atmosphere. Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt had beforehand mentioned constructing a US-inspired tech trade – a British equal of Silicon Valley.

Nonetheless, to this point, the UK has did not create a generative AI startup corresponding to any within the US, nor France’s Mistral, or Germany’s Aleph Alpha.