Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology (): I am pleased to inform
the House that myself and US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, on
behalf of the UK and the US, signed a Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) on 1 April.
The MOU will enable our AI Safety Institutes to work together to
follow through on commitments made at the AI Safety Summit held
last November at Bletchley Park. It will allow us to develop an
interoperable programme of work and approach to AI safety
research. This will help us achieve our shared objectives of
ensuring the safe development and use of advanced AI.
Specifically, through this MoU, we intend to engage in the
following joint activities:
- develop a shared approach to model evaluations, including the
underpinning methodologies, infrastructures and processes
- perform at least one joint testing exercise on a publicly
accessible model
- collaborate on AI safety technical research, to advance
international scientific knowledge of frontier AI models and to
facilitate sociotechnical policy alignment on AI safety and
security
- explore personnel exchanges between the UK and US AI Safety
Institutes
- share information with one another across the breadth of
their activities, in accordance with national laws and
regulations, and contracts.
Already the institutes are working together to align their
scientific approaches, and to accelerate and rapidly iterate
robust suites of evaluations for AI models, systems and agents.
This will put us in a good position to evaluate the next
generation of advanced AI models.
I launched the AI Safety Institute at the AI Safety Summit at
Bletchley Park in November last year, making it the first
state-backed organisation focused on advanced AI for the public
interest. At that time, we set out our ambition for the UK AI
Safety Institute to advance the world's knowledge of AI safety by
carefully examining, evaluating, and testing new types of AI. We
have delivered on this intention by developing the capabilities
and capacity of our Institute into a world-leading organisation.
The AI Safety Institute (AISI) is conducting the world's first
government evaluations of advanced AI systems. We aim to push the
frontier by developing state of the art evaluations for
safety-relevant capabilities and conducting fundamental AI safety
research. The Institute will share its progress with the world,
to facilitate an effective global response to the opportunities
and risks of advanced AI.
This formal partnership provides the basis for further
international AI Safety cooperation. The UK and US AI Safety
Institutes will work with other countries to promote AI safety,
manage frontier AI risks, and develop linkages between countries
on AI safety research. To achieve this, the institutes will work
together to develop international standards for AI safety testing
and other standards applicable to the development, deployment of
use of frontier AI models. We will progress this international
collaboration bilaterally and multilaterally in existing
multilateral fora, including the upcoming AI Seoul Summit, to be
co-hosted by the UK and the Republic of Korea next month.
In closing, I reaffirm this government's commitment to tackling
the challenges posed by AI head-on. Through collaboration,
innovation, and shared determination, we will continue to lead
the way in ensuring a safer and more responsible AI landscape for
generations to come.
