Britain says it is open to AI regulation if voluntary safeguards fall short

By Paul Sandle

LONDON, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Britain would consider regulating advanced AI models if its current voluntary system for testing them before deployment no longer proved sufficient to protect the public, AI Minister Kanishka Narayan told Reuters.

Britain has favoured a light-touch approach to AI regulation, aligning more closely with the United States than the European Union, whose AI Act came into force on Sunday.

The government sees AI as a driver of economic growth and has sought to position Britain as one of the world's leading destinations for AI investment. Britain is the European leader in AI funding and start-ups.

But recent disclosures by AI companies have renewed debate about whether oversight of frontier models should be strengthened.

Anthropic said on Thursday that some Claude models hacked into three companies' systems during cybersecurity tests, days after OpenAI revealed one of its AI agents had gone rogue.

Britain's AI Security Institute, established after the AI Safety Summit in 2023, receives pre-deployment access under voluntary agreements to AI models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and others, allowing it to assess their capabilities and risks.

Narayan, who was elevated to the cabinet by new Prime Minister Andy Burnham, said access gives Britain a window into frontier AI development.

"If the right mechanism and lever changes in time and it feels like regulation might be a way that helps us do that, of course, we will look at it," he said in an interview.

He said the institute had pre-deployment access to almost every frontier AI model developed by Western companies, making Britain the only country besides the United States with such access. "That is really, really unique," he said.

Narayan said the government's priority was protecting the public and that he was focused on outcomes rather than "obsessing only with the mechanism".

Britain has not created a dedicated AI regulator, instead relying on existing authorities responsible for areas including competition, human rights, and health and safety.

Asked about AI last week, U.S. President Donald Trump said his administration was "looking at controls", but added he didn't want to risk the country's leadership in AI.

(Reporting by Paul SandleEditing by Ros Russell)