Don't leave AI to tech bros and oligarchs, UK's AI minister says

Britain must not let artificial intelligence be controlled by "tech bros and oligarchs," the UK's AI minister Kanishka Narayan has said, arguing that the public and democracy must assert power over the technology.

Speaking to the BBC's Political Thinking podcast, Narayan said dealing with AI requires more than regulation. The country must also build its own "capability and capacity" in the field, he said. He compared the rise of AI to the Victorian-era Industrial Revolution, saying Britain should learn from that period and manage the transition better this time.

"The fundamental thing is that the British public and democracy has to assert power rather than leave it to tech bros and oligarchs," he said. He did not name any specific companies or tech bosses.

Narayan, the UK's first cabinet minister for AI, said Britain should "pull the lever of regulation" while also building AI at home so the country can shape the technology and keep leverage internationally. "We need to build technology to defend ourselves and to grow ourselves so we have leverage internationally," he added.

He pointed to a recent government experiment in which frontier AI models were used to scan Whitehall systems for cybersecurity weaknesses. The exercise cost just £13,000 and uncovered 500 previously unknown vulnerabilities, he said.

His comments were recorded a day before Barclays announced it would cut 5,000 jobs in an AI-led efficiency drive, and before the discovery of a major cyber-security flaw affecting millions of websites that was found with AI's help. Narayan also said his conversations with the chancellor hinted at a possible AI announcement in the upcoming Budget, and he dismissed the idea that only the US and China matter in the AI race.