Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions she has had with Ofcom on its classification system for AI chatbots; and whether her Department plans to review the classification of chatbot services as search services.

Last year, Ofcom published a letter that set out that if an AI service searches the live internet to return its results it will be regulated under the Act as a search service.

The Secretary of State has confirmed in Parliament that the government will further consider the role of chatbots and how they interact with the Online Safety Act, and has urged Ofcom to use its existing powers to ensure they are safe for children.

Where evidence demonstrates that further action is necessary to protect children and the wider public, we will not hesitate to act.