At the start of November, Britain was briefly the centre of the tech world as high-ranking politicians, Silicon Valley luminaries and respected academics all descended on Buckinghamshire for what was billed as the world’s first intergovernmental summit on AI safety.
The meeting at Bletchley Park was the brainchild of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and was his dual attempt to establish Britain as a major player in the AI revolution and cement himself a political legacy.
On the strength of the guest list, it certainly appeared to be a success. Representing tech was OpenAI founder Sam Altman, X CEO Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg’s top lieutenant and former Deputy PM Nick Clegg. The political attendees included US Vice-President Kamala Harris, EU President Ursula von der Leyen and, most
