AI: International Co-operation

Baroness Berger Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd July 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Vaizey of Didcot (Con)]

My Lords—

[Baroness Berger (Lab)]

My Lords—

[Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms and Chief Whip (Lord Kennedy of Southwark) (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, we will hear from the Labour and then the Conservative Benches.

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

We set out yesterday in our Written Ministerial Statement the allocation of responsibilities under the Government going forward. The strategy will be looked after by the Cabinet Office, which is taking the lead for AI strategy and public sector AI adoption. The Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade will take on responsibility for the science and innovation portfolio. As I mentioned at the beginning, it is a whole of government approach. You will find discussion of AI policy implications in every sectoral dimension, from financial services to maritime, because it is a technology that affects all areas. That is another reason why we need to look at regulation with a sector by sector approach, because it affects different sectors differently.

[Baroness Berger (Lab)]

My Lords, there can be no greater motivation for extensive international co-operation on AI than when it comes to safety. Other noble Lords have referred to this, but it is worth reiterating in detail that, last night, the co-founder of OpenAI, Sam Altman, announced to the world that its latest next-generation version GPT-5.6 Sol, and an even more capable pre-release model were involved in an unprecedented cyber incident and independently executed a complex cyber attack. Surely the time for giving advice to the tech companies is over. I welcome the Government’s Bill on cyber security and resilience, but it does not extend to AI. Will the UK lead the way and co-ordinate a global agreement on the transparency, oversight and regulation of AI?

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

We will continue to build on the work of discussing AI safety, adoption and governance through existing multilateral and multi-stakeholder initiatives, such as those I referred to before, including the G7, the OECD Global Partnership on AI and the Council of Europe, among others. That is the approach we will be taking forward. My noble friend raises very important questions, and in respect of online safety, our online safety regulator co-operates closely with other regulators to look at the implications of AI for online safety and will continue to do so.