AI: International Co-operation

Baroness Teather Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd July 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

AI can indeed be a powerful force for growth, scientific progress, better public services and sustainable development. We believe we can unlock this potential, working together with other countries, to build trust, to manage the risks and to ensure that the benefits of AI are shared widely. That is why the UK co-ordinates the international network of AISIs, which delivered the International AI Safety Report. We also fund practical partnerships with the OECD, the African Union and south-east Asia to support responsible AI adoption and drive growth worldwide.

[Baroness Teather (LD)]

My Lords, in the light of the news today that one of OpenAI’s agents went rogue in an experiment and attacked another AI start-up, does the Minister agree that this indicates an urgent need for global co-operation to agree safeguards and accountability frameworks? It seems that companies cannot be trusted to control the technology they are developing without this. Furthermore, does this not also indicate the need for us to develop a sovereign AI capability strategy so that we have the influence and expertise to shape these critical global conversations?

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

With the AI Security Institute, we have a world-leading, world-class institution that is able to test frontier models and provide advice, including with the National Cyber Security Centre, in order to equip companies against the risks that are prevalent with the advances in these technologies. That is exactly what happened earlier, and we encourage all firms and other organisations to take the mitigations that are necessary to reduce vulnerabilities and increase resilience. On the question of AI sovereignty and technological developments, we are absolutely taking an approach to build out AI capabilities. That is why we have the AI hardware plan to support development in that area, as well as the sovereign AI fund.