Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Government's publication A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation, published on 29 March 2023, how much and what proportion of the budget of each regulator in their Department was spent on regulation of artificial intelligence in the latest period for which information is available; how many staff in each regulator worked (a) wholly and (b) partly on those issues in the latest period for which information is available; and whether those regulators plan to increase resources for their work on artificial intelligence.

As part of the AI regulation White Paper consultation, the Government is engaging closely with regulators across the wider landscape to understand the organisation capacity they need to regulate AI effectively.

The Department for Business and Trade sponsors the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). CMA staff recorded approximately 2,300 hours on the CMA’s “AI Foundation Models: Initial Review” project from 27 March to 2 June 2023. This equates to approximately 7 FTE. In addition, given the CMA’s remit other work by CMA staff may have direct or indirect relevance to AI. Decisions on future allocation of CMA resources will depend on the findings of the CMA’s initial review and other demands at that time.

The Department directly includes or sponsors a number of other regulators and public bodies, such as the Office for Product Safety and Standards and the Financial Reporting Council. These regulators are not directly responsible for regulating AI but may consider its implications and effects across numerous parts of their work. It is not possible to accurately disaggregate resource working on AI issues for these bodies.