Rishi and Google plot ways to police AI

RISHI Sunak is drawing up plans for a rapid overhaul of regulations to control the growing impact of artificial intelligence after taking soundings from the boss of Google.

The Prime Minister yesterday met with Sundar Pichai, chief executive of Google’s parent company Alphabet, to discuss the idea of an international agency to police AI’s rapid expansion as Mr Sunak looks to tighten the UK’s current regulations.

The PM believes the Government’s White Paper on AI, only published in March, is already out of date. And he is under pressure from his own MPs to host an annual international summit on the issue to put Britain at the forefront of the response to policing the technology.

Mr Sunak’s meeting with Mr Pichai at the Government’s Darlington Economic Campus comes after he held talks with OpenAI boss Sam Altman, whose company created Chat GPT, and other industry representatives on Wednesday. Mr Sunak and the AI bosses have already acknowledged the technology carries ‘existential risks’ without effective new regulation. Google owns the DeepMind AI lab.

Following yesterday’s meeting, Downing Street said: ‘They discussed the UK’s strengths and ambitions in cementing its position as a science and technology superpower. On AI, they spoke about striking the right balance to ensure the right regulatory guardrails are in place, whilst driving innovation. They discussed opportunities... on safe and responsible AI development and agreed to remain in touch.’

Last month Mr Pichai said the threat AI poses to humanity ‘keeps me up at night’. His fears were fuelled after his firm’s new AI chatbot program Bard surprised its makers by learning Bangladeshi without training.