Sunak planning global AI watchdog

London, June 3

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is considering a London-based global artificial intelligence (AI) watchdog to oversee any threat posed by the fast-growing technology, according to a UK media report on Saturday.

Sunak will discuss ways to cooperate on monitoring AI when he meets US President Joe Biden at the White House next week, according to a newspaper.

Among the ideas under consideration in Downing Street is setting up a global AI authority in London, modelled on the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) founded in 1957 with 176 countries, including India as members, monitors the use of nuclear energy, promotes safe standards, and checks that it is not used for military purposes.

A British minister told the newspaper that the UK would be “the best place” in the world for any new body because many leading companies already had a strong presence in the country.

Though plans are at an early stage, if Sunak pushes ahead, the UK Government could seek to recruit rapidly to get the authority up and running. “The PM is very alive to the need for international alignment on the approach to AI as the technology evolves to ensure we can benefit from the opportunities but manage the risks,” a government source was quoted as saying by the daily.

The possibility of Sunak creating a regulator comes as the EU is refining its AI Act, which is expected to take a hard line on oversight of the sector.