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Zahra Bahrololoumi, CEO of U.K. and Ireland at Salesforce, speaking during the company’s annual Dreamforce conference in San Francisco, California, on Sept. 17, 2024.

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LONDON — The UK chief executive of Salesforce wants the Labor government to regulate artificial intelligence — but says it’s important that policymakers don’t tar all technology companies developing AI systems with the same brush.

Speaking to CNBC in London, Zahra Bahrololoumi, CEO of UK and Ireland at Salesforce, said the American enterprise software giant takes all legislation “seriously.” However, she added that any British proposals aimed at regulating AI should be “proportional and tailored.”

Bahrololoumi noted that there’s a difference between companies developing consumer-facing AI tools — like OpenAI — and firms like Salesforce making enterprise AI systems. She said consumer-facing AI systems, such as ChatGPT , face fewer restrictions than enterprise-grade products, which have to meet higher privacy standards and comply with corporate guidelines.

“What we look for is targeted, proportional, and tailored legislation,” Bahrololoumi told CNBC on Wednesday.

“There’s definitely a difference between those organizations that are operating with consumer facing technology and consumer tech, and those that are enterprise tech. And we each have different roles in the ecosystem, [but] we’re a B2B organization,” she said.

A spokesperson for the UK’s Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) said that planned AI rules would be “highly targeted to the handful of companies developing the most powerful AI models,” rather than applying “blanket rules on the use of AI. “

That indicates that the rules might not apply to companies like Salesforce, which don’t make their own foundational models like OpenAI.

“We recognize the power of AI to kickstart growth and improve productivity and are absolutely committed to supporting the development of our AI sector, particularly as we speed up the adoption of the technology across our economy,” the DSIT spokesperson added.

Data security

Salesforce has been heavily touting the ethics and safety considerations embedded in its Agentforce AI technology platform, which allows enterprise organizations to spin up their own AI “agents” — essentially, autonomous digital workers that carry out tasks for different functions, like sales, service or marketing.

For example, one feature called “zero retention” means no customer data can ever be stored outside of Salesforce. As a result, generative AI prompts and outputs aren’t stored in Salesforce’s large language models — the programs that form the bedrock of today’s genAI chatbots, like ChatGPT.

With consumer AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude or Meta’s AI assistant, it’s unclear what data is being used to train them or where that data gets stored, according to Bahrololoumi.

“To train these models you need so much data,” she told CNBC. “And so, with something like ChatGPT and these consumer models, you don’t know what it’s using.”

Even Microsoft’s Copilot, which is marketed at enterprise customers, comes with heightened risks, Bahrololoumi said, citing a Gartner report calling out the tech giant’s AI personal assistant over the security risks it poses to organizations.

OpenAI and Microsoft were not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.

AI concerns ‘apply at all levels’

Bola Rotibi, chief of enterprise research at analyst firm CCS Insight, told CNBC that, while enterprise-focused AI suppliers are “more cognizant of enterprise-level requirements” around security and data privacy, it would be wrong to assume regulations wouldn’t scrutinize both consumer and business-facing firms.

“All the concerns around things like consent, privacy, transparency, data sovereignty apply at all levels no matter if it is consumer or enterprise as such details are governed by regulations such as GDPR,” Rotibi told CNBC via email. GDPR, or the General Data Protection Regulation, became law in the UK in 2018.

However, Rotibi said that regulators may feel “more confident” in AI compliance measures adopted by enterprise application providers like Salesforce, “because they understand what it means to deliver enterprise-level solutions and management support.”

“A more nuanced review process is likely for the AI services from widely deployed enterprise solution providers like Salesforce,” she added.

Bahrololoumi spoke to CNBC at Salesforce’s Agentforce World Tour in London, an event designed to promote the use of the company’s new “agentic” AI technology by partners and customers.

Her remarks come after U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour refrained from introducing an AI bill in the King’s Speech, which is written by the government to outline its priorities for the coming months. The government at the time said it plans to establish “appropriate legislation” for AI, without offering further details.

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The Street’s bad call on Palo Alto – plus, two portfolio stocks reach new highs

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November 21, 2025

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The Street's bad call on Palo Alto – plus, two portfolio stocks reach new highs

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Govini founder Eric Gillespie released on $1 million bond with Pentagon probe ‘ongoing’

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November 21, 2025

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Govini founder Eric Gillespie released on million bond with Pentagon probe 'ongoing'

Mug shot of Eric Gillespie, Govini Founder and Chairman.

Courtesy: Pennsylvania Attorney General

Govini founder Eric Gillespie, who is charged with four felonies, including multiple counts of unlawful contact with a minor, was released on bail.

Gillespie, who lives in Pittsburgh, posted a $1 million bond after his court appearance Thursday. He is not allowed to travel, and his passport has been revoked.

He was initially denied bail following his arrest on Nov. 7, with the judge citing flight risk and public safety concerns.

David Shrager of Shrager Defense Attorneys, who represents Gillespie, insisted that his client did not break any laws.

“Mr. Gillespie has never contacted a minor, either online or in person, and the facts clearly prove that,” Shrager said after the hearing on Thursday.

“Completely false statements, including the use of artificial intelligence between adults made in the context of an online fantasy chat, are not illegal,” he added.

Gillespie’s next court date is Dec. 18.

The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office said Gillespie sent lewd photos to an agent posing as a father offering his daughter to be abused, and made graphic comments about sexual acts with children.

Gillespie, 57, commented on the security of the encrypted platforms being used in the chats between him and the undercover agent, according to a criminal complaint obtained by CNBC.

Gillespie is the founder of defense contractor Govini.

He was listed on the company’s website on the leadership page as a board member as recently as Aug. 17, according to an archived version of the page available on the Wayback Machine.

The company terminated Gillespie on Nov. 12.

Earlier this year, Govini landed a nearly $1 billion contract with the Department of Defense. The company’s suite of artificial intelligence-enabled applications is used by every department of the U.S. military and other federal agencies.

Following his arrest, Pentagon officials said they were looking into Gillespie and possible security issues.

CNBC has repeatedly asked the Department of Defense about updates on the status of the probe and potential security concerns with Govini or Gillespie.

“We don’t comment on ongoing investigations,” a Pentagon spokesperson said Thursday.

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Tech stocks set for big losing week as AI names get rocked after Nvidia earnings

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November 21, 2025

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Tech stocks set for big losing week as AI names get rocked after Nvidia earnings

Jensen Huang, NVIDIA founder and CEO, has a Q&A session at a press conference during the APEC CEO summit on October 31, 2025 in Gyeongju, South Korea.

Woohae Cho | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Even Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang couldn’t save the tech and artificial intelligence trade this week.

The chip giant’s talismanic leader trumpeted “off the charts” chip sales and dismissed talk of an “AI bubble,” and for a while, the tide lifted all boats.

“There’s been a lot of talk about an AI bubble,” Huang said during an earnings call this week. “From our vantage point, we see something very different.”

The buzz from the blowout report quickly reversed, sending the AI winners deeply into the red — and few beneficiaries were left unscathed.

Every member of the Magnificent 7, except for Alphabet, was tracking for a losing week, with Nvidia, Amazon and Microsoft staring down the biggest losses.

Amazon and Microsoft have led the group’s drop lower, falling about 6% this week. Meanwhile, Alphabet has gained nearly 8%. The search giant is also the only megacap of the group on pace for November gains thanks to a boost from the launch of Gemini 3.

Oracle, which is another major Nvidia customer, slumped about 10%. The chipmaker also supplies major model developers such as OpenAI and Anthropic.

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Chip stocks have also declined amid the broader tech market turmoil. Advanced Micro Devices and Micron were on pace for 17% losses. Marvell Technology has slumped about 10%. Quantum computing stocks Rigetti, IonQ and D-Wave have dropped at least 10%

CoreWeave, which buys and rents out Nvidia’s chips in data centers, initially soared on the chipmaker’s earnings report, but swiftly reversed course. The company’s stock is looking at an 8% blow this week.

AI fever was cooling in the runup to Nvidia’s earnings report on Wednesday, and investors looked to the print to alleviate fears that the AI bubble was on shaky ground. Since the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022, the stock has helped power the market to new all-time highs.

But concerns have mounted in recent weeks as tech stocks hit stretched valuations.

Major investors, including Bridgewater’s Ray Dalio told CNBC Thursday that the market is definitely in a bubble.

Much of the worries have stemmed from a boom in capital expenditures spending to support AI, with few signs of a payoff in view for many of the players.

Investor Michael Burry recently accused some of the biggest cloud and infrastructure providers of understating depreciation expenses and estimating a longer life cycle for their chips, calling it “one of the more common frauds of the modern era.”

Earlier this month, Burry revealed bets against Nvidia and Palantir.

Shares of the software analytics company, which supplies AI tools to the government and businesses, are down 11% this week. The stock has shed nearly a quarter of its value this month.

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