Labour could cave to Europe on AI

The ramifications of the American midterms will be digested in the days that lie ahead. One likely consequence will be a shift in policy on Artificial Intelligence (AI) as Democratic lawmakers replace Republicans on Capitol Hill. Congressman Frank Pallone and Senator Maria Cantwell will be the ranking members on their respective commerce committees. Down the ballot, Republicans everywhere faced attacks over data centres. After two years in which the ‘tech bros’ found favour with the GOP, the blue wave signals a potential ‘techlash’. Liberal attitudes can be summarised by Greg Casar, who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus. He argued just last week that Democrats ‘should be hauling in the CEOs of the large AI companies and grilling them about the risks that they are imposing to the American people.’

A bad night for Silicon Valley, though, could potentially be good news for Britain. Under first Rishi Sunak and then Keir Starmer, Whitehall has adopted a relatively enlightened attitude towards regulation, pioneering the AI Safety Institute model. With the UK now boasting the third-largest market and startup ecosystem in the world, AI office space in London has increased tenfold in a year. Andy Burnham has, thus far, resisted siren calls from sections of the left to restrict Britain’s gains in this area. He has given the AI minister a seat in the cabinet, taking time on the night of Kanishka Narayan’s appointment to talk through how the state can use this technology effectively. If a Democrat Congress begins to put the brakes on American tech growth, then talent, businesses and investment could divert to these shores instead.

But the UK’s AI potential could be stunted by Burnham’s Europe mission. Ahead of the summit on 20 November, fears are growing that the European Union will now try to throttle Britain’s impressive progress in this field. I understand that officials are working on plans to launch an EU-UK digital partnership, billed as a chance to enhance co-operation on digital and technology matters. Under this plan, the Artificial Intelligence Act, with regards to free movement of products, and the Cyber Resilience Act, would be added to the Windsor Framework’s Annex 2. Such moves are being regarded by Eurosceptics as the opening salvos in a war to get Britain back into the EU’s orbit on AI. In parliament, Narayan has declined to answer whether the country will statically or dynamically align with the EU AI Act: something that Ben Spencer, his opposite number, warns will risk both direct compliance costs and lost opportunities. 

Burnham’s team in No. 10 have looked at public attitudes to Brexit and concluded that, ten years on, the electorate is now more open to a conversation about a much closer relationship with the EU. Yet while opinions might have shifted in his favour, circumstances are conspiring against him. With an EU-China trade war gearing up and Britain’s hard-won AI gains potentially on the line, Labour could struggle to justify why now is the right time to start getting closer to Europe once again.