Microsoft president calls for UK-led AI Regulation
Key takeaways
- Microsoft president Brad Smith compared AI oversight unfavourably to regulation of milk and washing machines
- Smith said the UK is best placed to lead on global safety rules
- Smith called for legal obligations to alert organisations of AI breaches and outside evaluator approval before product release
Brad Smith, Microsoft's president, made comments on a recent BBC podcast arguing that milk and washing machines are more heavily regulated than artificial intelligence. He called AI both a "weapon and a tool" that is putting the world's cybersecurity at risk and said the "moment has arrived" to institute global safety rules.
Smith specifically named the UK as best placed to lead on global safety rules, rather than the US or European Union. Britain's AI Security Institute (AISI), launched in 2023, receives access to major models from US frontier labs before they are deployed and has become a leader in AI safety testing. Smith pointed out that this positioning gives the UK a regulatory advantage, telling the BBC: "In Washington, D.C., people don't look at the U.K. and they don't look at London the way they look at Brussels. That's a strength."
Smith's comments arrive amid broader calls from tech leaders to slow the pace of AI development. Last month, Trump hosted tech leaders from OpenAI, Anthropic, Nvidia, AMD, SpaceX, Meta, and Google at the White House to discuss AI safety. They signed a "morally binding" document agreeing to work with "independent auditors" to assess the safety and capabilities of their AI models. Smith called this a "good step," but argued it falls short of necessary regulation.
The problem with voluntary self-regulation, Smith said, is that only the "good companies" will comply. "It's the companies that are not as responsible that you need to worry about," he stated.
Smith outlined specific safety rules he wants to see implemented. These include a legal obligation to alert an organisation if its system was breached by rogue AI agents. He also supports AI labs obtaining approval from outside evaluators before releasing an AI product, and spoke positively about kill switches to pause or slow down AI if humans lose control of it.
Despite recent pressure from US president Donald Trump, who warned against "globalist" organisations and reportedly asked Anthropic and OpenAI to withhold new models from British testers, AISI confirmed on Monday that it is able to access and test the latest models.
Smith urged a calm but firm approach to regulation. "Let's speak calmly, maybe even softly, but firmly, and start to bring people together," he said. "I hope that's the role we can play as a company. I hope that's the role the U.K. can play as a country."
