On April 25th, the British government announced the formation of a task group to develop safe artificial intelligence (AI), with a £100 million initial commitment to assist the program. The task force's mission is to establish independent capabilities in AI technology and infrastructure while maintaining worldwide competitiveness.
To enable the safe and reliable application of AI throughout the economy, the Safe AI Task Force will focus on increasing the safety and reliability of AI models known as foundation models in both scientific and commercial domains. Government and industry experts will collaborate to build a direct reporting mechanism to the Prime Minister and the Secretary of Technology.
In addition to the £900 million investment in computational technology announced in the Budget, the Prime Minister and Technology Secretary committed £100 million in first start-up support. The investment will aim to consolidate the UK's status as a science and technology superpower by 2030 by funding a new government-industry task force to ensure sovereign capabilities and widespread adoption of safe and reliable foundation models.
Foundation models, which include huge language models such as ChatGPT and Google Bard, are AI systems trained on massive data sets that can be utilized for a variety of jobs across the economy. With AI expected to contribute billions of pounds to the UK GDP, the Taskforce's work will assist in delivering on the Prime Minister's aims to increase the economy while improving outcomes for people across the country through improved public services.
The Taskforce's funding will help to establish the United Kingdom's "sovereign" national capabilities, allowing public services to benefit from the transformative impact of this type of AI. The Taskforce will work to position the United Kingdom as a global leader in foundation models and their applications across the economy, as well as a global standard-bearer for AI safety.
The Taskforce will be led by an expert Chair, whose identity will be revealed later this summer. While the appointment is ongoing, Matt Clifford, Chair of the Advanced Research and Innovation Agency, will assist the Prime Minister and Technology Secretary on the creation of the Taskforce.
