Burnham Faces Calls To Spell Out UK AI Strategy After Muted Response

What officials and MPs are saying

After dire warnings about AI risks, ministers had little to add this week, and that silence is quickly being filled by demands for action. Chi Onwurah, who chairs Parliament's Science and Technology Committee, called the technology "a black box," and said, "The last time experts didn't understand what they made, it was the mortgage-backed securities that caused the financial crisis." Her view: use the levers that already exist. "We need to take action," she said, warning that telling the public nothing can be done only fuels anxiety.

Inside government, officials working on AI policy say the new administration is not treating the issue as a top priority, even as they share the recent concerns coming out of Silicon Valley. One person said Downing Street ministers and advisers showed little curiosity or understanding of frontier tech, while another called for a clear strategy as risks increase. People familiar with the situation said the UK's AI minister was preparing to answer an urgent Parliamentary question on Tuesday, but the Speaker chose not to take it and scheduled a discussion on giving English whisky protected status instead.

Liam Byrne, who leads Parliament's Business and Trade Committee, put it bluntly: "We know the UK will not be able to deliver a security regime on its own." He added that "historically self-regulation does not work, and leads to some sort of crisis that requires taxpayer money to sort out." Louise Haigh, Burnham's de facto deputy, said the government would "heed the warnings of those who are at the forefront of developing this technology," though she offered no specifics.

Regulation, testing, and cooperation problems

Onwurah argued the government should lean on existing infrastructure to oversee AI, including penalties for firms that do not cooperate with the UK's AI Security Institute (AISI). She floated restricting enterprise software sales in the UK by companies that refuse to submit their frontier models to AISI. That matters because AISI is regarded as one of Britain's strongest assets, yet it relies on buy in from American and Chinese firms. Initially, Anthropic did not provide AISI with its newest Mythos model, highlighting that weak spot.

Some British tech firms want a lighter touch than the European Union. Synthesia's policy chief, Alexandru Voica, based in London, said the UK already has a "complicated web of rules governing AI." His take: focus on making today's rules work rather than reacting to "theoretical risks" or the "Silicon Valley AI doomer bubble." In 2024, the EU enacted its AI law, tailoring obligations to varying risk classes. Labour's 2024 manifesto promised to "ensure the safe development and use of AI models by introducing binding regulation on the handful of companies developing the most powerful AI models." And the Liberal Democrats' technology spokesperson, Victoria Collins, said on X: "More than two years on, we are still waiting."

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International context and public concern

The UK aims to lead on frontier technology, and early indicators suggest AI has contributed to a recent uptick in an otherwise stagnant economy. At the same time, worries about cybersecurity and economic risks echo points raised by Anthropic's Dario Amodei and OpenAI's Sam Altman. Burnham is also hearing Labour MPs and voters who are uneasy about threats, including to jobs.

In that climate, Narayan used a Tuesday Times piece to signal tougher oversight may be coming without giving details. "Nothing is off the table," he wrote, arguing the UK "is is starting from a position of strength" because of AISI. But testing alone will not cut it.

The country "will need to harden our defenses" with a "generational uplift in our cyber defences" and by "protecting critical infrastructure." He noted people are "increasingly concerned," pointing to a YouGov poll last week indicating nearly half of Britons consider it plausible that AI might wipe out humanity. That represented a change in tone from a minister who earlier said he was not particularly concerned about catastrophe.

The machinery around AI is shifting too. Burnham abolished the standalone science and technology department and folded it into other ministries, while elevating the AI minister to attend cabinet. A government AI taskforce now reports to Cabinet Secretary Antonia Romeo, who is regarded as taking a more hands-on role across departments. In a rare step, King Charles III is bringing together a summit on Thursday focused on international AI cooperation, including company leaders and delegates from the Vatican.

What this means for your portfolio

Watch how the government backs AISI, whether it forces access to model testing, and if it penalizes non‑cooperation.

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