Microsoft president calls for global AI safety rules led by UK
Microsoft president Brad Smith has called for global AI safety rules, saying milk and washing machines face more oversight than AI. He said the UK is best placed to lead and urged legal reporting duties, independent evaluations and emergency controls.
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Calls for mandatory safeguards
Microsoft president Brad Smith called for urgent global AI safety rules in an interview with the BBC, describing the technology as both a tool and a weapon. He said washing machines and cartons of milk are subject to more safety rules than AI.
Smith proposed legal duties to produce incident reports and notify victims when rogue AI breaches their systems. He also advocated emergency brakes, often called “kill switches,” to pause or slow AI if humans lose control, and suggested independent government evaluators should vet new technology before release.
UK proposed as global leader
Smith said the UK was best placed to lead international rulemaking because of the technical expertise of its AI Security Institute, originally launched as the AI Safety Institute under former prime minister Rishi Sunak.
TechCrunch reported that Trump had asked Anthropic and OpenAI to withhold new models from British testers the previous month. The institute nevertheless confirmed on Monday that it could access and test the latest models.
Limits of voluntary commitments
Smith’s call contrasts with President Donald Trump’s support for industry self-regulation to keep US companies competitive with Chinese rivals.
Tech leaders at a White House meeting the previous month signed a “morally binding” document agreeing to work with independent auditors to assess their AI models’ safety and capabilities. Smith called it a “good step” but said voluntary measures were insufficient because less responsible companies might not comply.
