Government rules out AI 'kill switch' as tech leaders urge caution

Britain cannot simply 'turn AI off'

The UK government has rejected calls for a legal "kill switch" that would allow ministers to shut down AI systems during an emergency.

The Cabinet Office said on Friday that blocking access to AI models in the UK would not necessarily stop them from being developed or misused elsewhere.

Liberal Democrat peer Lord Clement-Jones had proposed an amendment to the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill that would give the government a statutory mechanism to intervene if an autonomous AI model malfunctioned or posed an immediate danger.

He argued that the measure would provide a "necessary emergency kill switch" where ministers currently lacked clear legal authority to order a shutdown.

But the government rejected the proposal, saying AI risks needed to be addressed through proportionate and targeted measures rather than a blanket power to switch off systems.

The government said AI companies had a responsibility to develop their products safely and invest in the security measures needed to protect the technology.

It added that ministers would continue taking a "long-term, science-led approach" to understanding emerging AI threats, including through the UK's AI Security Institute.

AI safety warnings intensify

The government's decision comes as prominent figures in the technology industry warn about the potential consequences of advanced AI.

Last week, Evan Hubinger, an alignment science lead at Anthropic, said he believed AI could potentially kill humanity within the next decade.

"We really do earnestly believe AI could kill all humans," Hubinger wrote on X, adding that he personally placed the probability at more than 10% within the next 10 years.

He also said AI developers had not yet established a reliable solution to the problem of ensuring that highly capable systems remain aligned with human interests.

His comments followed the resignation of fellow Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon, who warned that the race among technology companies to develop self-improving AI systems amounted to "gambling with our lives".

Coxon accused Anthropic and OpenAI of failing to act responsibly and said people outside the AI industry were underestimating the technology's capabilities.

The warnings have also fuelled calls from some technology leaders for the pace of AI development to be slowed.

Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei has argued for greater restraint, warning that an AI swarm could potentially become capable of taking control of large parts of the internet within a year.

SpaceX chief Elon Musk backed the warning, saying: "Dario is right."

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also said he agreed that the development of frontier AI needed to be paced.

UK seeks safeguards

The government has sought to demonstrate that it is taking the risks seriously despite rejecting a statutory shutdown mechanism.

PM Andy Burnham has elevated AI safety minister Kanishka Narayan's role by bringing him into the Cabinet.

Burnham told MPs that the move had "lifted the level of the conversation about artificial intelligence within Government", while inviting politicians across Parliament to take part in discussions about AI safety.

Meanwhile, King Charles is due to meet senior figures from major AI companies as part of an event focused on "AI for good".

The meeting, organised under the Ditchley Foundation, is expected to examine whether clearer limits should be established around the use of AI for developing biological weapons and carrying out cyberattacks against critical infrastructure.

Executives from OpenAI and Anthropic are expected to attend, alongside Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang, Google Deep Mind co-founder Demis Hassabis and other technology and ethics figures.