U.K. Global AI Safety Summit Is the First of Its Kind
Summary
From November 1–2, 2023, the U.K. held a global “AI Safety Summit.” The event brought together leaders from the United States, the European Union (EU), China and elsewhere, along with executives at leading AI companies, for a two-day discussion on “how to best manage the risks from the most recent advances in AI.” The event was heralded as a “remarkable” diplomatic achievement concluding in the Bletchley Declaration, a statement signed by more than 25 countries and the EU. The Declaration recognized the “enormous global opportunities” of AI, as well as its “significant risks.” To that end, the participants stated their “resolve to support an internationally inclusive network of scientific research on frontier AI safety . . . to facilitate the provision of the best science available for policy making and the public good.” The parties also “resolve[d] to sustain an inclusive global dialogue,” including by meeting in 2024 at another AI Safety Summit hosted by France. While the U.K. has called the Declaration a “world-first” agreement, others have criticized it for not going far enough to establish concrete action steps on regulating AI.
