UK Delays Plans for AI Regulation

The British Labour Government has reportedly delayed plans to put forward a draft bill on artificial intelligence over concerns that binding AI regulation could stifle the country’s AI growth potential.

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Citing three unidentified Labour ministers, The Guardian on Tuesday reported a draft AI bill will now be put forward in the summer. A binding regulation on AI was a key proposals outlined by Prime Minister Keir Starmer in his maiden King’s Speech following his party’s July election win.

There are still “no hard proposals in terms of what the legislation looks like,” a source told the Guardian despite an initial goal of releasing a bill in December 2024. Some British lawmakers worry that further regulation could jeopardize the country’s relationship with the United States and make the country less attractive to AI companies.

A Department of Science and Technology, Innovation and Technology spokesperson said the government remains “committed to bringing forward a legislation.”

“We are continuing to engage extensively to refine our proposals and will launch a public consultation in due course to ensure our approach is future-proofed and effective against this fast-evolving technology,” the spokesperson added.

Since coming into power, U.S. President Donald Trump has nullified an executive order signed by his predecessor meant to inject safety checks into frontier model rollout. His administration has heavily criticized Europe for overregulating technology.

“We need our European friends, in particular, to look to this new frontier with optimism rather than trepidation,” Vice President JD Vance said during the AI Action Summit early this month (see: US VP Vance Calls for Less Regulation at AI Action Summit).

The United Kingdom, like the United States, has so far taken a decentralized approach to AI governance by trusting to existing statutes surrounding data, consumer protection, and product safety to do the work of protecting the populace.

Labour has more recently pitched proposals to allow the use of copyrighted material for training AI in an opt-out basis. It proposed in January the creation of a national data library to provide copyright-cleared media training data (see: British Prime Minister Starmer Unveils New AI Plan).

The U.K. AI Safety Institute last week rebranded as the AI Security Institute, another indication of the government shifting AI strategy. The U.K. and the U.S. declined to sign a declaration unveiled during the AI Action Summit calling for “inclusive and sustainable” AI development.