With permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I shall make a statement about the Government’s artificial intelligence safety summit.

Today I update the House about a turning point in our history. With 1% of the world’s population, we have built the third largest AI sector. We have rocketed ourselves to a 688% increase in AI companies basing themselves here in less than a decade, and UK AI scale-ups are raising almost double that of France, Germany and the rest of Europe combined. But the sudden and unprecedented growth in the speed and power of artificial intelligence presents unlimited opportunities along with the potential of grave risks, which we cannot ignore.

I truly believe that we stand at a crossroads in human history. To turn the wrong way would be a monumental missed opportunity for mankind, which is why last week presented such a watershed moment. We convened leaders, Ministers, developers, scientists and academics from across the globe to discuss for the first time the risks and opportunities of frontier AI. Although the collection of countries and organisations that came to Bletchley Park was unprecedented, our goal from the start was to leave with tangible outcomes. Let me briefly outline a handful of actions that have resulted from the summit.

First, 28 countries and the European Union, representing the Majority of the world’s population, signed up to an unprecedented agreement known as the Bletchley declaration. Despite some claiming that such a declaration would be rejected by many countries in attendance, we agreed that, for the good of all, AI should be designed, developed, deployed and used in a manner that is safe, human-centric, trustworthy and responsible. We agreed on the protection of human rights, transparency and explainability, fairness, accountability, regulation, safety, appropriate human oversight, ethics, bias mitigation, privacy and data protection.

We also agreed to measure, monitor and mitigate potentially harmful capabilities and the associated effects that may emerge—in particular to prevent misuse and issues of control, and the amplification of other risks—and that Turing prize winner Yoshua Bengio, credited as being one of the godfathers of AI, would lead on a state of science report to ensure that, collectively, we stay on top of the risks of frontier AI.

Countries with differing world views and interests, including China, signed the same agreement. Some had said that China would not come to the summit, but it did. They said that, if it does attend, China would never sign an agreement, but it did. Then they said that if China did sign the agreement, it would not agree to continue collaborating in the long term—but it did that as well. That alone would have made the summit a watershed moment in the history of AI safety, but we went further.

We surpassed all expectations by securing an agreement on Government-led testing pre-deployment of the models. This is truly a game changer to help ensure that we can safely harness the benefits of frontier AI while mitigating the risks. To facilitate it, the UK announced that the world-leading frontier taskforce will morph into the world’s first permanent AI safety institute, which will bring together the very best AI minds in the world to research future risks and conduct third-party testing of models.

This is just the start of the journey on AI safety, which is why we have also confirmed funding for the institute for the rest of the decade and secured future AI safety summits to be held in the Republic of Korea in six months’ time and in France in one year’s time, ensuring that the extraordinary pace of international action set by the summit last week is maintained into the future.

None the less, the summit is just one piece in the UK’s overall approach to AI safety. Our white paper published earlier this year was praised for ensuring that the UK can be agile and responsive as risks emerge. I am sure that Opposition Members will call for a one-size-fits-all “snapshot in time” piece of legislation, but we must ensure that we deepen our understanding of the problem before we rush to produce inadequate legislation.

We also need to ensure that we are quick enough to act, which is why we have taken the steps to ensure that we can keep pace with the development of the technology, with the next set of models being released within six months. AI is the fastest emerging technology that we have ever seen, and we need a system that can identify, evaluate and understand AI to then allow us to mitigate the risks with the right guardrails. That is why it is such an achievement to agree the pre-deployment testing of models; we should not underestimate that achievement.

Companies need to do more too, which is why before the summit we managed to go further than any country ever has. We secured the publication of the main AI companies’ safety policies, along with a catalogue of the possible policies, ensuring transparency and a race to the top, complemented by the recent US executive order. It is also why I have been advocating for responsible capability scaling, which I often refer to as a kind of smoke alarm for AI developers.

The release of ChatGPT not even a year ago was a breakthrough moment for humanity. We were all surprised by the progress. We saw the acceleration of investment into, and adoption of, AI systems at the frontier, making them increasingly powerful and consequential to our lives. These systems could turbocharge our public services, saving lives in the NHS and tailoring education to every child’s needs. They could free people everywhere from tedious work and amplify our creative abilities. They could help our scientists to unlock bold new discoveries, opening the door to a world where one day diseases such as cancer will no longer exist and there will be access to near-limitless clean energy.

But these systems could also further concentrate unaccountable power in the hands of a few, or be maliciously used to undermine societal trust, erode public safety or threaten international security. The British people deserve to know that those who represent them in this place are driving forward the right guardrails and governance for the safe development and deployment of frontier AI systems. I firmly believe that it cannot be left to chance or private actors alone, nor is it an issue for party political squabbling or point scoring.

As we stand here today, what was once considered science fiction is quickly becoming science fact. Just a few years ago, the most advanced AI systems could barely write coherent sentences. Now they can write poetry, help doctors to detect cancer, and generate photo-realistic images in a split second, but with those incredible advances come potentially grave risks, and we refuse to bury our head in the sand. We cannot ignore or dismiss the countless experts who tell us plain and simple that there are risks of humans losing control, that some model outputs could become completely unpredictable, and that the societal impacts of AI advances could seriously disrupt safety and security here at home.

Countries entered the summit with diverse and conflicting views of the world. Some speculated that a deal between the countries invited would be impossible, but what we achieved in just two days at Bletchley Park will be remembered as the moment that the world came together to begin solving an unprecedented global challenge. An international approach is not just preferable, but absolutely essential. Some Members understandably questioned the decision to invite China to the summit, and I do not dismiss the very real concerns and grievances that many on both sides of the House might have had, but a Government who represent the British people must ultimately do what is right for the British people, especially when it comes to keeping them safe. I am firm that it was the right decision for the country in the long term. There simply cannot be a substantive conversation about AI without involving the world’s leading AI nations, and China is currently second in the world in AI.

AI is not some phenomenon that is happening to us; it is a force that we have the power to shape and direct. I believe that we have a responsibility—and, in fact, a duty—to act and to act now. I conclude by taking us back to the beginning: 73 years ago, Alan Turing dared to ask whether computers would one day think. From his vantage point at the dawn of the field, he observed that

“we can only see a short distance ahead, but we can see plenty there that needs to be done.”

For us in this place, there is indeed plenty that needs to be done, but we cannot do it in isolation, so I urge Members across the House to adopt the collaborative, constructive approach that the international community displayed at Bletchley last week. If we in this place put our differences aside on this issue and work pragmatically on behalf of the British people, this new era of artificial intelligence can truly benefit every person and community across the country and beyond. Our summit was a successful step forward, but we are only just getting started. I commend this statement to the House.