UK Continues to Make its Pitch as a Global AI Leader
Summary
On February 6, 2024, in what many saw as a response to the EU AI Act’s progression towards finalization, the U.K. released a “government response paper” on the U.K.’s “pro-innovation approach to AI regulation.” The paper touts the U.K. as “leading the world in how to respond” to AI’s adoption across industries and states that its “approach to preparing for such a future is firmly pro-innovation.” In particular, the paper emphasizes the government’s efforts to “ensure cohesion across the [regulatory] landscape,” a new £10 million fund to “jumpstart regulator’s AI capabilities” and a new “commitment by U.K. Research and Innovation (UKRI) that future investments in AI research will be leveraged to support regulator skills and expertise.” While the paper largely did not put forward any concrete proposals, the U.K. government also announced that it may introduce “future targeted, binding requirements for most advanced general-purpose AI systems.” The announcement also instructed key regulators to state “how they are responding to AI risks and opportunities” by the end of April 2024.
