EU Technological Sovereignty Package
Debate between Baroness Lloyd of Effra and Baroness Gill(1 week, 4 days ago)
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Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)
The Government are taking the approach of reducing overreliance and building up our own capability. We welcome foreign investment, including in our AI growth zones, and the ability of UK companies and citizens to access the best technology available, whether it is in the UK or elsewhere. That is an important part of our being able to benefit from the developments in AI. However, I absolutely agree that AI compute is the engine behind every AI breakthrough. That is why we are investing up to £2 billion in public compute infrastructure to 2030, so that researchers, start-ups, SMEs and public services can have free access to the computing power they need to work at the frontier of AI.
Baroness Gill (Lab)
My Lords, the UK’s AI Security Institute does evaluate frontier models, but it lacks pre-market enforcement powers to block software releases. Pre-market enforcement would force developers to proactively prove that their models meet rigorous safety standards, such as we have for aviation, pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Are the Government open to setting a global standard for AI by backing upfront, rigorous safety evaluations?
Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)
The AI Security Institute is one of the pre-eminent institutions in the UK in AI development and the transformations we are seeing. It works very closely with other AI security institutes. I think it was only two weeks back that it was meeting other similar institutions, developing common standards and approaches to assessment, which is one of the important ways that we keep a baseline across the globe for how we should appraise frontier models as they are developed.
EU Digital Services Act and Regulation
Debate between Baroness Lloyd of Effra and Baroness Gill(4 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Baroness Gill
To ask His Majesty’s Government what discussions they have held with the European Union in relation to (1) alignment with the EU Digital Services Act, and (2) greater co-operation on digital services regulation.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business and Trade and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (Baroness Lloyd of Effra) (Lab)
The Government regularly engage with the EU on digital policy, including direct discussions on the Digital Services Act, which like the UK’s Online Safety Act requires companies to take proportionate steps to protect users online. While the UK has taken its own regulatory approach, we co-operate with the EU where it supports UK citizens and businesses. The new EU-UK digital dialogue will deepen co-operation on shared challenges, including AI and online child safety.
Baroness Gill (Lab)
I thank the Minister for her response. There would be several economic, regulatory and strategic benefits if the UK were to be part of the EU’s Digital Services Act. Scale matters when it comes to dealing with the powerful global tech companies, and it is quite clear from the US’s AI action plan that it will not limit their powers. The DSA is likely to become a global standard, like GDPR, so can the Minister confirm that this Government will include it as a matter of urgency on the agenda of ongoing reset discussions with the EU, with a view to becoming a member?