Rishi Sunak reveals ‘landmark agreement’ with AI firms to test safety of models before release

Published

2 years ago

November 2, 2023

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Rishi Sunak has said the UK’s AI safety summit will “tip the balance in favour of humanity” after governments reached a “landmark agreement” with tech companies to test their models before their release.

The prime minister said while the event at Bletchley Park was “only the beginning of the conversation”, it showed there was a “will and capability to control the technology”.

Powerful AI models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google‘s Bard are trained on huge amounts of data to respond to prompts and make predictions.

Follow latest: UK has ‘led conversation’ to allow world access to benefits of AI

One of the concerns is a lack of transparency around the data they are trained on, and Mr Sunak has claimed government regulation won’t be possible without more openness about how they work.

“In order to regulate this technology, to make sure it is safe, we have to have the capability to understand what these models are capable of,” he told Sky’s science and technology editor Tom Clarke.

The agreement struck with AI companies to collaborate on safety testing before new models are released is a “necessary” step, he added.

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The UK and US governments will set up their own AI safety institutes to carry out such testing and share findings.

But not everyone at the summit appeared convinced by the arrangement, with Elon Musk appearing to mock the politicians who brokered the deal just hours before he holds talks with the prime minister.

“Sigh,” he posted, alongside a cartoon casting doubt on governments’ willingness to collaborate.

PM to hold one-on-one with Musk

Billionaire Musk was one of the star guests at two-day summit in Milton Keynes, which took place at the home of Britain’s Second World War codebreakers.

On day one, Musk told Sky News AI is a “risk” to humanity.

His post on X came just as the prime minister began a news conference on Thursday afternoon.

The men are due to hold talks later tonight, streamed on the SpaceX and Tesla owner’s X site.

PM: AI can ‘transform our lives’

The outspoken tycoon was one of more than 100 politicians, tech bosses, and academics at the UK’s summit to discuss challenges posed by artificial intelligence.

It resulted in the Bletchley Declaration, which saw 28 nations including the US and China agree to collaborate to research safety concerns around the world’s most capable AI models.

Mr Sunak said while the technology had the potential to “transform our lives”, impacting sectors from education to health care, it could present dangers “on a scale like pandemics and nuclear war”.

The Bletchley Declaration says any threats are “best addressed through international cooperation”, and also set out plans for more global summits next year.

But there was little sign of a concrete approach to regulation or any suggestions of a pause in AI’s development, which experts including Musk called for earlier this year.

It also did little to satisfy critics who warned Mr Sunak ahead of the summit he was too focused on hypothetical future threats, rather than present dangers like job losses and misinformation.

US VP warns not to forget ‘everyday threats’

Mr Sunak had previously announced leading AI companies had agreed to share their models with the UK, with a government safety institute launched to research them and flag any concerns.

The White House detailed similar plans this week as part of a wide set of safeguards which include AI-generated content having to be watermarked to combat deepfake content.

US vice president Kamala Harris, who attended the UK summit on Thursday, has said “everyday threats” can’t be ignored despite fears around the more far-flung dangers.

Mr Sunak has been more cautious than the US about AI safety legislation, arguing it would risk stifling innovation.

Instead, the government has tasked existing regulators like the Competition and Markets Authority, Ofcom, and the Health and Safety Executive to apply key principles around safety, transparency, and accountability to AI.

Politics

£100m border security boost – as govt vows ‘major crackdown’ on people smuggling gangs

Published

2 hours ago

August 4, 2025

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£100m border security boost - as govt vows 'major crackdown' on people smuggling gangs

The government has vowed to push for a “major new crackdown” on people smuggling gangs with a £100m cash boost for border security.

The investment will support the pilot of the new “one in, one out” returns agreement between the UK and France, and other efforts to crack down on small boat crossings.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said this new funding will “strengthen” the government’s “serious and comprehensive plan” to dismantle the business model of criminal gangs smuggling migrants across the Channel.

But the Conservatives have claimed the cash injection will make “no real difference”, with shadow home secretary Chris Philp branding the move a Labour “gimmick” and a “desperate grab for headlines”.

The funding will pay for up to 300 new National Crime Agency (NCA) officials, “state-of-the art” detection technology and new equipment to “smash the networks putting lives at risk in the Channel”, ministers say.

It will also allow the Border Security Command, the NCA, the police and other law enforcement agency partners to “strengthen investigations targeting smuggling kingpins and disrupt their operations across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and beyond”.

The new investment comes as official figures show more than 25,000 people have arrived on small boats so far in 2025 – a record for this point in the year.

Ms Cooper said: “In the last 12 months, we have set the foundations for this new and much stronger law enforcement approach – establishing the new Border Security Command, strengthening the National Crime Agency and UK police operations, increasing Immigration Enforcement, introducing new counter terror style powers in our Border Security Bill, and establishing cooperation agreements with Europol and other countries.

“Now this additional funding will strengthen every aspect of our plan, and will turbo-charge the ability of our law enforcement agencies to track the gangs and bring them down, working with our partners overseas, and using state-of-the-art technology and equipment.

“Alongside our new agreements with France, this will help us drive forward our Plan for Change commitments to protect the UK’s border security and restore order to our immigration system.”

The £100m investment will also support new powers to be introduced when the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill becomes law, the Home Office said.

This includes the introduction of a UK-wide offence to criminalise the creation and publication of online material that promotes a breach of immigration law, such as the advertisement of small boat crossings on social media.

Research suggests about 80% of migrants arriving to the UK by small boat used internet platforms during their journey – including to contact agents linked to smuggling gangs.

While it is already illegal to assist illegal immigration, ministers hope the creation of a new offence will give police more powers and disrupt business models.

Mr Philp accused the Labour government of having “no serious plan, just excuses, while ruthless criminal gangs flood our borders with illegal immigrants”.

He said: “The British public deserves real action, not empty slogans and tinkering at the edges.”

Politics

More children from Gaza to be brought to UK for urgent medical treatment

Published

11 hours ago

August 3, 2025

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More children from Gaza to be brought to UK for urgent medical treatment

Efforts to bring Gazan children to the UK for urgent medical treatment are set to be accelerated under new government plans.

Under the scheme, reportedly set to be announced within weeks, more injured and sick children will be treated by specialists in the NHS “where that is the best option for their care”.

It has been suggested that up to 300 children could arrive in the UK from Gaza.

A parent or guardian will accompany each child, as well as siblings if necessary, and the Home Office will carry out biometric and security checks before travel, the Sunday Times has reported.

It is understood this will happen “in parallel” with an initiative by Project Pure Hope, a group set up to bring sick and injured Gazan children to the UK privately for treatment.

A government spokesperson said: “We are taking forward plans to evacuate more children from Gaza who require urgent medical care, including bringing them to the UK for specialist treatment where that is the best option for their care.”

More than 50,000 children are estimated to have been killed or injured in Gaza since October 2023, according to Unicef.

So far, three children have arrived in the UK for medical treatment with the help of the charity Project Pure Hope.

Around 5,000 have been evacuated in total, with the majority going to Egypt and Gulf countries.

Sir Keir Starmer said last week that the UK was “urgently accelerating” efforts to bring children over for treatment.

The government has also pledged another £1m to help the World Health Organisation in Egypt provide medical support to evacuated Gazans.

The prime minister told the Mirror: “I know the British people are sickened by what is happening.

“The images of starvation and desperation in Gaza are utterly horrifying. We are urgently accelerating efforts to evacuate children from Gaza who need critical medical assistance – bringing more Palestinian children to the UK for specialist medical treatment.”

Around 100 MPs have signed a letter urging the government to fast track the scheme.

Labour MP Stella Creasy, who co-ordinated the letter, said: “The commitment we all share to help these children remains absolute and urgent – with every day, more are harmed or die, making the need to overcome any barriers to increasing the support we give them imperative.

“We stand ready to support whatever it takes to make this happen and ask for your urgent response.”

Meanwhile, Project Pure Hope has been campaigning for months to create a scheme which would allow for the evacuation of 30 to 50 children.

The charity has raised the money to bring the children and their families to the UK, and cover their medical costs, privately.

Politics

The token is dead, long live the token

Published

11 hours ago

August 3, 2025

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The token is dead, long live the token

Crypto tokens have failed retail investors through insider concentration and poor design. Regulation and tokenized real-world assets offer hope for revival.