The summit will bring together key countries, leading technology companies and researchers to agree on security measures to assess and monitor the top risks posed by AI. Prime Minister and President Biden will take a coordinated approach to the opportunities and challenges of emerging technologies at their White House meeting Today, global companies expand their AI work in the UK as PM confirms new university scholarships to expand UK-US tech leadership
As the world grapples with the challenges and opportunities presented by the rapid advances in artificial intelligence, the UK will host the first major global AI security summit, the Prime Minister announced today (Wednesday 7 June).
AI breakthroughs continue to improve our lives—from being able to help paralyzed people walk to discovering antibiotics that kill superbugs. But AI is evolving at an extraordinarily rapid rate, and this pace of change requires agile leadership. This is why the UK is taking action, because we have a global duty to ensure that this technology is developed and deployed safely and responsibly.
Last week, dozens of leading experts warned of the potential of AI to endanger humanity in ways similar to pandemics or nuclear weapons.
Today in Washington DC, the Prime Minister will emphasize the importance of like-minded allies and companies working to develop an international framework to ensure the safe and reliable development and use of AI.
The summit, to be held in the UK this autumn, will discuss the risks of AI, including border systems, and how these can be mitigated through internationally coordinated action. It will also provide a platform for countries to work together to advance a common approach to mitigating these risks.
In recent weeks, the Prime Minister has discussed this issue with a number of businessmen and world leaders. This includes all members of the G7, who agreed at last month’s Hiroshima summit on a desire to take a common approach to the issue.
In May, the Prime Minister also met with the CEOs of the three most advanced AI research labs OpenAI, DeepMind and Anthropic in Downing Street, and the Minister for Science, Innovation and Technology also hosted a round table discussion with senior AI leaders. Work at the AI Security Summit will build on recent discussions at the G7, the OECD and the Global Partnership on AI.
In July, the Foreign Minister will also convene the first UN Security Council briefing on the opportunities and risks of artificial intelligence for international peace and security.
The UK is well placed to initiate discussions about the future of AI. The UK is the world leader in AI, ranking third behind the US and China. Our AI sector already contributes £3.7 billion to the UK economy and employs 50,000 people across the country.
Our exit from the EU also enables us to react faster and more flexibly to this rapidly changing market. The UK was one of the first leading countries to come up with a blueprint for the safe and responsible development of AI that will adapt to the speed of advances in this technology. And the UK has launched an expert task force to help build and deploy the next generation of secure AI. This is backed by £100 million in funding. The company has also committed to spend £900m developing computing capabilities, including an exa-supercomputer in the UK.
AI has incredible potential to change our lives for the better. But we have to make sure that it is developed and used in a safe way.
Throughout history we have invented groundbreaking new technologies and used them for the benefit of mankind. That’s what we have to do again.
No country can do this alone. This will require a global effort. But with our deep expertise and our commitment to an open, democratic international system, the UK, along with its allies, will lead the way.
Last month, OpenAI and Anthropic opened offices in London. OpenAI has named UK company Faculty as its technical integration partner and announced the expansion of Google Deepmind led by Demis Hassabis, headquartered in King’s Cross.
AI brings incredible opportunities but also challenges to the world, and international collaboration is essential to ensure this technology is developed safely and responsibly for the benefit of all.
The Global Summit on AI Safety will play a crucial role in bringing government, industry, academia and civil society together, and we look forward to working closely with the UK Government to help make this effort a success.
It is extremely important that we make AI safe. There is still a great deal to do. So we commend the Prime Minister for bringing the world together to find answers and engage in smart conversations.
Also recognizing the strength of Britain’s AI expertise, US tech giant Palantir today announced that it will make the UK its new European headquarters for AI development. Palantir, which already employs more than 800 people in the UK, has provided a foundational computing architecture for many of the world’s most important companies and institutions.
Alexander C. Karp, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Palantir Technologies Inc. and Chair of the Palantir Foundation for Defense Policy & International Affairs said:
The ability of institutions to effectively grasp recent advances in artificial intelligence, and large language models in particular, will determine which organizations thrive in the longer term and ultimately survive.
We are proud to expand our partnership with the UK, where we employ almost a quarter of our global workforce. London is a magnet for the world’s best software engineering talent and the natural choice as a hub for our European efforts to create the most effective and ethical artificial intelligence software solutions available.
Today the Prime Minister will meet President Biden in the White House for in-depth discussions on UK-US relations, specifically how we can work together to strengthen our economies and cement our shared leadership in the technologies of the future.
The UK and US are two of the only three countries in the world that have a tech industry worth more than $1 trillion. This is partly thanks to the strength of our universities and research institutions – our countries are home to seven of the top ten research universities in the world, among us.
The Prime Minister will also announce an increase in the number of scholarships funded by the UK Government for students pursuing postgraduate studies and research at UK and US universities, strengthening our shared expertise in STEM subjects.
As part of the scholarship increase announced today, the number of Marshall Scholarships will increase by 25% to 50 places per year. The Marshall program was created 70 years ago to give promising Americans the opportunity to study in the UK for two years. Graduates from the program include two sitting Supreme Court Justices, founders of companies such as Dolby Labs and LinkedIn, and a Nobel Laureate.
The UK will also fund five new Fulbright scholarships per year, up from the 25 currently funded. The Fulbright program is primarily funded by the United States to enable international students to study in the United States and vice versa. Since the program began in 1948, around 15,000 British nationals have studied in the United States on Fulbright scholarships.
These new grants will focus on STEM-related topics and strengthen the UK and US’s shared expertise in the technologies of the future.
The opportunity that AI offers us could fundamentally help solve some of society’s biggest problems. But it will require the kind of multilateral agreement the Prime Minister is proposing to inspire trust and address the challenges that AI also brings.
The potential of this technology is staggering, but we must ensure that it is introduced in a people-friendly and safe manner.
This requires technological leadership and the ability to foster international collaboration; The United Kingdom is ideally positioned for both.
