Britain sets priorities for November global AI safety summit

September 6, 2023

By Farouq Suleiman

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain set out its objectives for its global artificial intelligence (AI) safety summit on Monday, focusing on understanding the risks posed by the frontier technology and how national and international frameworks could be supported.

The summit, which will be held on Nov. 1-2, will bring together tech executives, academics and political leaders as nations and international governing bodies seek to implement tools and agree laws that regulate the use of the technology.

It will focus “on risks created or significantly exacerbated by the most powerful AI systems,” the government said.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has touted Britain as a global leader in AI regulation, and the government wants to accelerate investment in AI to improve productivity.

Britain sets priorities for November global AI safety summit — A piece of paper sits on the Colossus machine at Bletchley Park in Milton Keynes, Britain, September 15, 2016. Picture taken September 15, 2016. REUTERS/Darren Staples/File Photo

Tech expert Matt Clifford and former senior diplomat Jonathan Black have been appointed to lead preparations for the summit.

The two are rallying political leaders, AI companies and experts ahead of the event, which will be held at Bletchley Park in southern England.

At a meeting in May, Group of Seven (G7) leaders acknowledged the need for governance of AI and agreed to have ministers discuss the technology dubbed the Hiroshima AI process.