Rishi Sunak has spent significant political capital trying to ensure the continued success of his AI Summit. Credit: NEIL HALL/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
The bucolic setting of Bletchley Park, home to British code-breaking operations during World War II, is a fitting backdrop for Rishi Sunak's ambition to fight a new threat: artificial intelligence.
In two months, the Buckinghamshire country estate will host the Prime Minister's AI Security Summit, the first international effort of its kind to ensure that the risks posed by the rapid development of AI are addressed.
Sunak seeks to position the UK as the international house of AI regulation, which will be a valuable prize as the technology becomes more influential.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, the owner of ChatGPT, said the technology needed a global regulator like the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Sunak expressed sympathy for the idea and would like it to be created in London.
0605 AI Influence
However, there is an elephant in the room. Ministers have yet to confirm whether China will be invited to the summit.
A regulatory body that has not received China's approval cannot realistically claim global status. However, China's involvement is a delicate matter.
Inviting Beijing's representatives could draw the ire of allies such as Japan and the EU, and perhaps even Britain's own security forces. China's growing technological sophistication is seen as a very real threat to Western values.
However, not including China could undermine Sunak's ambitions to make the UK the center of AI regulation.
According to the Institute for Human-Oriented Artificial Intelligence at Stanford University, China ranks second in the world in AI funding after the United States and leads in the number of scientific publications.
The Communist Party has said it wants the country to become the world's leading AI hub by 2030 and home to AI giants such as SenseTime, Baidu and Tencent.
Sunak will have to figure out how to build an international consensus on AI amid an escalating technology war between Beijing and the West.
A recent British defense review called China an «epoch-defining challenge.» GCHQ has warned of growing threats from Chinese cyberattacks, likely to be enhanced by artificial intelligence that can convincingly trick people into handing over security data.
Chinese officials insist that the country's AI operates effectively as the arm of the state. The country's powerful cyberspace administration has ordered Chinese chatbots to «adhere to the core values of socialism» and discourage attempts to overthrow the government.
In response, the US has banned semiconductor giant Nvidia from supplying its most advanced technology. The AI chips will be shipped to China and are expected to take further action against new versions released by the company to serve the Chinese market.
Imports of equipment for the production of semiconductors in China by country
The FBI has accused China of stealing American AI technology to «ensure foreign influence campaigns.»
British officials organizing the summit are aware of the need to secure American support, especially as US President Joe Biden is expected to miss this summit. event.
A US National Security Council spokesman told Politico last week that the US «doesn't mind if China attends the summit.»
However, Japan, another key security ally and a key player in the development of artificial intelligence, has reportedly opposed the country's invitation, while European Union officials are also skeptical.
In the report of the deputies of the Committee on Science and Technology, published on Thursday, called for invitations to the summit to be «expanded to the widest possible range of countries.»
However, he also called for the creation of a separate forum for democracies that would «provide mutual protection against those actors — state and others — who are enemies of these values and will use AI to achieve their goals.»< /p>
Greg Clark, committee chairman, said the West should be able to work with China on certain AI security targets, drawing comparisons with international efforts to prevent toxins in drug development.
“Technology is evolving. be global,” Mr. Clarke said. “And we need to think about the security of AI in all countries, and we should try to find out if it is possible to reach an agreement on this issue. If this is the first global summit on artificial intelligence, it would be useful to gather as many votes as possible.»
However, he said that on national security issues, «it would be wrong to have such discussions in the company of people who do not share your values and worldview.”
Alicia Kearns, head of the foreign affairs select committee, expects China to be invited, but «restrictions will be placed on their participation.» Photo: Heathcliff O'Malley
Alicia Kearns, the conservative head of the foreign affairs committee, said: “I expect China to be invited [to the summit], but there will be restrictions on its participation because it is not a reliable partner '.
“China is a competitor to the UK in artificial intelligence and where possible we should seek to engage with them to engage them in recognizing global AI rules and managing the worst excesses in the ways they may seek to use artificial intelligence. intelligence. to undermine the activities of other states and entities.»
Kearns stated that «China's future behavior will determine the extent to which cooperation continues.»
James Cleverley, the foreign secretary who is visiting China this week for the first such trip in five years, declined to say whether Beijing officials would be invited to the Bletchley Park summit, but said he had invited Chinese experts to speak at the Security Council meeting. UN. Tip.
Sunak himself was evasive about this. He told Liaison Committee members last month that «AI does not respect national borders and I think it would be good for all of us to hear and talk to each other,» but added that the first step was to discuss the issue with «like-minded countries.» «. .
Cleverly told the Financial Times that the guest list for the summit, scheduled for November 1 and 2, is still being finalized.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverley has not yet announced whether Beijing officials will be invited to the Bletchley Park summit. Photo: Rory Arnold/10 Downing Street
One official familiar with the plans for the summit says that China will almost certainly be invited, but the difficult question is at what level. “Of course you invite them. The question is, what do you suggest they do?” They said. «Can you reach a level of confidence that they will do it almost in good faith?
«The only thing worse than not having them is that they are there and ruining everything.»
Sunak has invested a lot of political capital in the summit's success, which means he wants an international agreement signed at the end of it on how countries should deal with AI security issues. Ideally, this would include China, but an agreement without it would be better than none at all.
The precedent of the Vienna-based IAEA, established in 1957, offers some hope. The control body was established in the early years of the nuclear weapons era and demanded cooperation between the US and the Soviet Union despite their many differences.
While an AI regulatory body is unlikely to be established at the current summit, the prime minister is hopeful to at least lay the groundwork.
A government spokesman said: «The UK is gathering world leaders and experts for the world's first major global AI security summit in November — to spur focused and rapid international action to build barriers, necessary to support innovation while reducing risk and avoiding harm.”
The spokesman said the government is not speculating on pre-summit invitees.
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