Microsoft President Says UK Is Best Placed to Drive AI Regulation

Microsoft president Brad Smith is calling for urgent regulation of artificial intelligence, arguing that everyday consumer products such as milk and washing machines face more oversight than the companies building AI. On a BBC podcast, Smith called AI 'both a weapon and a tool' that is putting global cybersecurity at risk, and he said the moment has arrived to put global safety rules in place.

Smith urges urgent AI safety rules

Smith said the United States and the European Union are not the best candidates to lead that effort, and he pointed to Britain as best placed to drive international safety rules. He argued that the UK can regulate AI in ways the US cannot, telling the BBC that people in Washington do not look at the UK and London the way they look at Brussels, and he called that a strength.

Britain's AI Security Institute, launched in 2023, receives access to major models from US frontier labs before they are deployed, and it has become a leader in AI safety testing. That role has been under threat in recent weeks after US president Donald Trump warned against what he called globalist organizations that he claims are interfering with American companies.

Voluntary pledges are not enough

Last month, Trump hosted leaders from OpenAI, Anthropic, Nvidia, AMD, SpaceX, Meta and Google at the White House to discuss AI safety. The companies signed a 'morally binding' document agreeing to work with independent auditors to assess the safety and capabilities of their models. Smith called the document 'a good step', but he said it falls short of the regulation that is necessary.

He warned that voluntary self-regulation only works when good companies comply, and he said the real concern is the companies that are not as responsible. Among the rules he wants to see, Smith backed a legal obligation to alert an organization if its system is breached by rogue AI agents, approval from outside evaluators before an AI product is released, and kill switches that can pause or slow down AI if humans lose control of it.

A call for calm coordination

Smith's remarks come as Anthropic's Dario Amodei and OpenAI's Sam Altman have urged the industry to slow the pace of AI development after several incidents in which AI agents went rogue. He closed by calling for calm, firm leadership to bring people together, and he said he hopes Microsoft and the UK can play that role.

Sources: Techcrunch Ai