Microsoft president says UK is best placed to drive AI regulation

image via TechCrunch

October 12, 2026, 3:31 PM

• •Brad Smith said AI needs urgent regulation and argued current oversight is weaker than for ordinary consumer goods.
• •Smith told the BBC that the U.K. is better positioned than the U.S. or EU to lead global AI safety rules.
• •The article says Britain’s AI Security Institute gets access to major frontier models before deployment and has become influential in safety testing.
• •Smith criticized voluntary commitments by AI companies as insufficient because less responsible firms may ignore them.
• •He backed measures such as breach-notification duties, outside evaluation before releases, and kill switches to slow or pause AI systems.

Microsoft president Brad Smith said AI companies face too little oversight and called for urgent regulation. He argued that the United Kingdom is better placed than the United States or European Union to drive global AI safety rules, partly because London is viewed differently from Brussels in Washington. The article says Britain’s AI Security Institute has continued testing leading models despite reported U.S. pressure on companies to withhold access. Smith said voluntary industry promises are not enough and endorsed measures including breach reporting, outside evaluations, and kill switches.

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