Business Innovation Science and Trade Committee question AI hyperscalers, former employees and AISI on surging safety fears
In September a former Anthropic researcher made global headlines with a dire warning about the destructive potential of emerging AI models. The heads of leading, rival developers OpenAI and Anthropic quickly stepped in with an extraordinary call for governments to regulate the new technology for safety, and to slow down development.
How real are the concerns about what AI agents could potentially do, and what powers and expertise does the UK have to keep pace with the development of frontier models?
On Tuesday 13 October the Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee will question former OpenAI and Anthropic researchers on the risks and reality of current AI development models, before putting their views to directors at OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta and Google DeepMind, and then to UK Government officials.
Meeting details
Purpose of the session
The Committee has been in dialogue with the UK AI Security Institute (AISI) which can evaluate risk, if it is granted access to a model - but does not necessarily have the power to compel disclosure or stop a release.
The Committee has also begun written questioning of the UK Minister for Artificial Intelligence, Kanishka Narayan, on the Government’s approach to the fast-moving situation.
Areas of questioning will include:
- The behaviour of rogue models;
- The risks of dangerous capabilities running ahead of control regimes;
- The case for self-regulation versus mandatory regulation;
- How independent testing regimes really are;
- Whether access for testers is early enough to stop misalignment;
- Who has the power to stop model release when things go wrong?
- Whether there should be mandatory reporting of problems;
- Whether the AISI has the powers it needs to police AI models in the UK, in the face of apparent US policy to halt pre-release of the most capable new models.
Chair's comment
Rt Hon Liam Byrne MP, Chair of the Committee, said:
“AI could transform our prosperity, public services and scientific progress, freeing up time for all of us to focus on the things that matter.
“But when powerful systems go wrong, we know from bitter experience that it’s the public that pays the price and taxpayers that pick up the bill.
“So we need to get to the bottom of who is checking these systems, when those checks begin, and whether Britain’s safety experts have the power sound the alarm and stop the harm when things go wrong.”