Rishi Sunak to lead talks at first AI Safety Summit

British Prime Minister expected to make case for global responsibility to address risks and seize opportunities of AI

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak chairs a Cabinet meeting in 10 Downing Street on October 31. Getty Images

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will lead day two of the AI Safety Summit on Thursday by welcoming senior leaders to Bletchley Park and hosting two session.

The first will focus on international priorities for artificial intelligence (AI) in the next five years, with a small group of senior representatives from governments and bodies around the world.

They include the US, EU, Italy, France, Germany, Australia and the UN, as well as virtual attendance from Japan, South Korea, and Singapore.

Mr Sunak is expected to make the case for global responsibility to address the risks in order to seize the opportunities of AI.

The group will discuss the international collaboration needed to develop this in the coming years.

The second session will host companies at the forefront of AI, as well as academia and civil society, and focus on concrete action needed next year to ensure AI safety.

Those attending include leaders of major AI businesses such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, Microsoft, Meta and xAI.

In this session, they will discuss the plan for state-backed testing and evaluation of AI models before they are released.

Last week, Mr Sunak announced the UK’s AI Safety Institute, which will examine, evaluate and test new types of AI to inform national and international policymaking.

On Wednesday, under the UK’s leadership, 28 countries including the US and China, and the EU, agreed for the first time on the opportunities, risks and need for international action on frontier AI, which are systems where we face the most urgent and dangerous risks.

“I believe there will be nothing more transformative to the futures of our children and grandchildren than technological advances like AI,” Mr Sunak said before the summit..

“We owe it to them to ensure AI develops in a safe and responsible way, gripping the risks it poses early enough in the process.

“The first-ever global AI Safety Summit led by the UK has already seen major AI powers sign up to the landmark Bletchley Declaration, agreeing on the shared responsibility to address the risks and urgently work together on frontier AI safety and research.

“The UK has led the way in this global conversation on AI safety, but no one country can tackle the risks alone.

“I’m looking forward to discussing this further with partners, so we can all keep our people safe and ensure future generations can reap the benefits of AI.”

The AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park - in pictures