UK's failure to sign AI Action statement undermines credibility
Press release from Tuesday 11 February 2025. Full Fact's statement was reported in the BBC, the Guardian, Computer Weekly, and elsewhere. For press enquiries please contact our press team at press@fullfact.org.
Full Fact responds to the diplomatic declaration by the international AI Action Summit in Paris today which the UK Government has not signed.
The statement was signed by dozens of countries including France, China and India, committing those governments to an "open", "inclusive" and "ethical" approach to the developing AI.
The UK government said it had not been able to sign the agreement because of concerns about national security and "global governance."
Andrew Dudfield, Head of AI at Full Fact, said:
“By refusing to sign today’s international AI Action Statement the UK Government risks undercutting its hard-won credibility as a world leader for safe, ethical and trustworthy AI innovation.
“Fact checkers around the world are working hard to put AI at the heart of our efforts to improve the online information environment, but we need bolder government action to protect people from corrosive AI-generated misinformation that can damage public health and disrupt democracy at unprecedented speed and scale.
“Ministers cannot afford to let the existing patchwork of policies continue, leaving critical decisions about how to define, label, and handle misleading AI-generated information up to the tech companies themselves, particularly as the UK is still developing its policies and risks falling behind.”