AI Safety Institute co-founder fired after election; Plans for Institute's San Francisco office may be scrapped; £1.3bn AI investment halted
LONDON, Aug 29 (Reuters) – Britain's Labour government is drawing up a new artificial intelligence strategy to cut costs ahead of a tough autumn budget, prioritising public sector adoption of the technology over direct investment in industry.
Since taking office in July, Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government has been reviewing the costs of AI, already scrapping plans made by the previous Conservative government to invest 1.3 billion pounds ($1.72 billion) in related technologies, including 800 million pounds promised to the University of Edinburgh to develop a supercomputer.
While the £1.3 billion is a relatively small amount in the overall AI budget, Starmer's government has faced backlash from industry leaders who say it shows the UK is losing interest in supporting innovation.
In contrast, France, which is developing a reputation as the European hub for generative AI, recently pledged to invest €2.5 billion ($2.77 billion) in developing the technology domestically. The UK government is also considering scrapping plans for a San Francisco office for its AI Safety Institute, according to sources close to the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSIT). The office was originally scheduled to open in the summer and would hire staff in line with market rates, with salaries estimated at more than $100,000 per person.
“Labour always needs to look different to the Conservatives and reining in AI safety and focusing on existential risks is an easy way to do that,” the source said.
In a sign of a change of policy, Technology Minister Peter Kyle in July removed Nitashan Rajkumar, one of the co-founders of the AI Safety Institute, from his role as senior policy adviser, according to three sources close to DSIT.
While it is not unusual for a new government to bring in its own advisers, some in the industry have seen the firing as a self-sabotage. Rajkumar announced his departure from DSIT on social media platform X but did not say his contract had been terminated.
“This is a huge loss for the UK civil service,” Jordan Sullivan of lobby group Start-Up Coalition wrote to X shortly after. “This is exactly the kind of person we should be going to great lengths to keep in the civil service.”
Around the same time, Labour hired Matt Clifford, a tech entrepreneur and organiser of an AI safety summit held last year under Conservative leader Rishi Sunak, to develop a new strategy. Sources say Clifford plans to set out his plan in September, ahead of the government's autumn statement next month.
A government spokesman said the government recognises the transformative power of AI and remains committed to harnessing the technology to deliver growth and opportunity for people across the UK.
Technology Minister Kyle aims to promote the adoption of AI in the public sector as a way to improve efficiency and cut costs while reducing government direct investment in the industry, according to three sources.
Time is running out
Last November, the UK hosted the world's first AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park, attended by world leaders such as Kamala Harris and tech giants such as Elon Musk and Sam Altman.
The public release of ChatGPT by Microsoft (MSFT.O)-backed OpenAI in November 2022 has raised concerns about the potentially devastating dangers of AI, but these concerns need to be balanced against the positive aspects of the technology.
DSIT is also accepting applications for an economist to model how the widespread use of AI will affect the UK, according to a job listing seen by Reuters.
At a previously unreported Downing Street meeting last week, Clifford hosted around 10 representatives from some of the world's largest venture capital firms, including Index Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital, to discuss the government's AI strategy.
Two people who attended the meeting told Reuters the focus was on how governments can deploy AI to improve public services. They also discussed how governments can better support university spin-out companies and how to make it easier for startups to hire from overseas.
“They didn't say much about where their thinking lies, other than to stress they only have a month left to finalise the review,” one attendee told Reuters.
The government says tough decisions are needed to make cost cuts across the board to plug a £22 billion budget deficit.
“We're preparing for a bold approach,” Kyle said in an interview with the Financial Times earlier this month. He said the AI Action Plan outlines the UK's future computing needs and how the government will deliver on them. But some industry observers say the plan isn't bold enough.
“Peter Kyle seems to think that AI is an easy way to save money,” a Downing Street attendee said. “We're seeing a massive scaling back of ambition.”
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Reporting by Martin Coulter; editing by Susan Fenton
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