US and UK form partnership on science of AI safety

The UK and US signed a Memorandum of Understanding yesterday (1 April) which the government said will see them work together to develop tests for the most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) models.

This follows on from commitments made at the AI Safety Summit last November. 

Michelle Donelan, UK Secretary of State for science, innovation and technology, said: "We have always been clear that ensuring the safe development of AI is a shared global issue.

"Only by working together can we address the technology’s risks head on and harness its enormous potential to help us all live easier and healthier lives."

Signed by Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan and US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, the government said the partnership will see both countries working to align their scientific approaches and accelerate evaluations for AI models, systems, and agents.

The UK and US AI Safety Institutes have laid out plans to build a common approach to AI safety testing and to share their capabilities to ensure these risks can be tackled effectively. They intend to perform at least one joint testing exercise on a publicly accessible model. 

They also intend to tap into a collective pool of expertise by exploring personnel exchanges between the Institutes.

US secretary of commerce, Gina Raimondo said that AI is the "defining technology of our generation."

 She said: "This partnership is going to accelerate both of our Institutes’ work across the full spectrum of risks, whether to our national security or to our broader society."