The U.K.’s Labour government committed to imposing statutory requirements on companies developing frontier AI systems in its manifesto, but has repeatedly delayed introducing legislation, in part over concerns with how it would be received by the Trump administration.
This week’s deal would further complicate Britain’s efforts to introduce its own AI legislation, according to four industry representatives granted anonymity to speak frankly. In an AI Action Plan this summer, the Trump administration said “AI is far too important to smother in bureaucracy” and criticized other countries that have “advocated for burdensome regulations.”
But Kyle, who oversaw the U.K.’s technology department until a reshuffle earlier this month, said the pact would “absolutely not” prevent U.K. lawmakers from legislating for AI, adding that his successor as technology secretary, Liz Kendall, is “looking precisely at what the legislative needs are for AI into the future.”
Instead, Kyle said the U.K. and U.S. would be focused on identifying opportunities to regulate “a bit more in tandem” in “emerging technologies and emerging sectors,” despite their distinct “philosophical approaches to regulation.”
“We are looking very actively for areas where we can much more closely align regulatory approaches between America and the U.K., so businesses and the scientific knowledge base and the commercial activity between the two nations can be much swifter,” Kyle said.