How the UK's emphasis on apocalyptic AI risk helps business

In the spring of 2023, the UK government set out its plans to address the rapidly evolving AI landscape. In a white paper titled "A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation" the secretary of state for science, innovation and technology described the many benefits and opportunities she believed the technology to hold and explained the government's decision to take a "principles-based approach" to regulating it. In short: the UK didn't plan to create new legislation, instead opting to clarify existing laws that could apply to AI. "New rigid and onerous legislative requirements on businesses could hold back AI innovation and reduce our ability to respond quickly and in a proportionate way to future technological advances," the white paper reads. Between the lines of the government's leaflet, experts say, is a coded message: we want AI companies' business; we're not going to regulate AI right now. In the lead-up to the global AI summit the UK is convening in early November, Rishi Sunak has echoed the desire to strengthen the UK's position as an AI leader, both in terms of innovation and safety oversight.