Artificial Intelligence requires immediate international regulation involving independent evaluators to vet new technological developments. Brad Smith, Microsoft Vice Chair and President, stated that AI currently faces fewer safety requirements than milk.
Smith argued that the industry should apply existing product knowledge to AI, saying, "We know how to do this for other products," and "We should build on that knowledge and think about how to apply it to AI." The tech executive proposed a set of global safety rules that would require an "emergency brake" and mandate that victims be informed if their systems are breached by rogue AI agents.
He also advocated for a legal requirement for companies to produce incident reports. While Anthropic and OpenAI have begun disclosing undesired behaviour by AI agents, Smith noted that Britain was well-placed to lead regulation because of the AI Security Institute launched under former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Smith observed that Washington officials viewed London more favorably than Brussels, which regulates AI based on risk levels via its AI Act. The British institute currently assesses capabilities and risks through voluntary agreements that grant it pre-deployment access to major AI models.
AI Minister Kanishka Narayan stated Britain would consider regulating advanced models if the existing framework proves inadequate.
