Elon Musk mocks Rishi Sunak ahead of AI interview at Bletchley Park summit – live

Labour has said it would urgently introduce binding requirements for companies developing powerful artificial intelligence (AI) after Rishi Sunak said he would not “rush” to regulate the technology.

The party has promised to force firms to report before they train models over a certain capability threshold and to carry out safety tests strengthened by indpendent oversight if it wins the next general election.

The Prime Minister has said that mitigating the risks of AI should be a global priority, but that the Government will not “rush to regulate” and does not want to be “alarmist” about the issue.

Elon Musk has mocked politicians at the AI summit ahead of a headlining interview with Rishi Sunak.

Mr Musk is one of the most high-profile guests at the UK’s AI Safety Summit, which the government hopes will lead to new responsible uses of artificial intelligence and highlight Britain’s role in developing it.

But he appeared to doubt the motivations of many of the attendees – suggesting in a tweet that they were hiding ulterior motives for their concern around AI.

Rishi Sunak has defended China’s involvement in the AI Safety Summit in Bletchley Park, saying it would have been a “mistake” not to invite the Asian superpower.

The prime minister was asked during a press conference why he would trust Beijing to stick to any rules on AI when it was not included in talks on national security risks on the gathering’s second day.

He replied that that was a “very glass-half-empty way to look at it”.

“It wasn’t an easy decision for me to invite China, and indeed lots of people criticised me for it. But I think it was the right long-term decision, because any serious conversation about AI safety has to engage the leading AI nations.

“Now, I can’t predict the future and exactly how this is all going to pan out, but it would have been a mistake not to try.”

He said the desired outcome had been achieved, which included China signing up “to the same set of principles that we, the Americans and Europeans and dozens of other countries did”.

Rishi Sunak said his AI Safety Summit would “tip the balance in favour of humanity”.

Speaking at a press conference at Bletchley Park on Thursday, the Prime Minister said: “While this was only the beginning of the conversation, I believe the achievements of this summit will tip the balance in favour of humanity, because they show that we have both the political will and the capability to control this technology, and secure its benefits for the long term.”

He said this had been achieved by establishing a shared understanding of the risks, a global expert panel that will publish a state of AI science report and reaching an agreement on testing the safety of new AI models before they are released.

Rishi Sunak has said he was “delighted” that Elon Musk attended the AI Safety Summit in Bletchley Park.

At a press conference, the Prime Minister said: “Elon Musk is someone who has for a long time spoken about AI, he’s an investor and entrepreneur, he’s developed AI companies.

“As one of the leading actors in AI, it’s important that he was engaged in this summit and I’m delighted that he was attending and participating yesterday.”

Technology secretary Michelle Donelan said the government needed to manage the potential risks of AI but that the it offered “humongous benefits”.

Speaking to GB News, she said: “We have convened countries across the globe, companies that are working in this space producing that cutting-edge AI and also academics, scientists, experts from all over the world to have a conversation and work out, ‘OK, what are the risks?’

“How can we work together in a long-term process so that we can really tackle this and get the benefits for humanity, not just here in the UK, but across the globe?”

She compared it to the international effort required to tackle climate change.

“We thought that actually what we need to do is work collaboratively with the rest of the world.

“I compare it to climate change – if we just do our own work in a silo, it won’t have the same impact.”

Losing control of artificial intelligence (AI) is the biggest concern around the computer science, the Technology Secretary has said.

Michelle Donelan said a Terminator-style scenario was a “potential area” where AI development could lead but “there are several stages before that”.

The Technology Secretary was speaking to Times Radio from the AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park, where ministers have convened governments from around the world alongside tech firms and civil society to discuss the risks of the advancing technology.

On the loss of control concern – which has been a topic of discussion in private sessions at the summit – Ms Donelan said: “That is a risk that is much more hypothetical in nature, that naturally is the one that I am most concerned about because it is the one that would result in the gravest ramifications.”

Elon Musk has said he believes AI is “one of the biggest threats” to humanity, and that the UK’s AI Safety Summit was “timely” given the scale of the threat.

The billionaire said AI was an “existential risk” because humans for the first time were faced with something “that is going to be far more intelligent than us”.

Mr Musk was speaking on the first day of the AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park, which the Government is using to host discussions with world leaders, tech firms and scientists on the risks of advancing AI technology.

Hello and welcome to our coverage of the second day of the UK’s AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park. The main highlight today will be Rishi Sunak’s discussion with tech entrepreneur Elon Musk later this afternoon.