Bletchley Declaration: Countries Join Hands to Manage Safe AI

Representatives of countries attending the artificial intelligence summit in London. (photo: twitter @AISafetySummit)

JAKARTA - Rishi Sunak, British Prime Minister, met with representatives from the United States, the European Union and the United Nations on Thursday 2 November to discuss the steps needed to develop safe Artificial Intelligence (AI), a day after he confirmed support China for international efforts to manage AI technology risks.

The British Prime Minister led talks on the final day of the inaugural Artificial Intelligence Security Summit at Bletchley Park, England, before speaking with tech billionaire Elon Musk in London.

One of the sessions will focus on “aligned countries,” while others will involve companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, Microsoft, Meta, and xAI.

They will discuss plans for state-backed testing and evaluation of AI models before they are released, Sunak's office revealed.

Sunak told reporters as he arrived at the site in the south of England, "AI has the potential to change our lives in every aspect from healthcare to education and the economy."

Some technology and political leaders have warned that the rapid development of AI could pose an existential threat if not controlled, sparking a race by governments and institutions to devise safeguards and regulations.

In the first attempt in the Western world to manage the development of safe AI, a Chinese vice minister joined the leaders of the United States, the European Union and tech bosses on Wednesday November 1 in this meeting focused on a highly capable generic AI model called “frontier AI ."

Bletchley Declaration

More than 25 countries, including the United States and China, as well as the European Union, signed the "Bletchley Declaration" last Wednesday saying that countries need to work together and establish a common approach to AI oversight.

The Declaration focuses on identifying shared risks of concern, building scientific understanding of them, and developing cross-country policies to address them.

Currently, governments are trying to find a way forward with AI companies who are worried they will be burdened by regulations before the technology reaches its full potential.

China is a key participant in this meeting. However, some British lawmakers have questioned whether China should be there given the low level of trust between Beijing, Washington and many European capitals regarding Chinese technology.

However, Sunak said that there could be no conversation about AI without involving one of the world's undisputed leaders in this technology.

"We've all signed the same piece of paper, whether it's us, America, Europe or China, which I think is a good sign of progress," he told Politico's Power Play podcast.

United States Vice President Kamala Harris and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will join the talks on Thursday.

However, the last piece of news to be awaited is a conversation between Sunak and Musk, which is scheduled to take place in central London later in the day and be broadcast on Musk's platform previously known as Twitter.