UK Sets Ambitious £6.5B AI Assurance Plan — Enough to Quell Innovation Concerns?

Key Takeaways

• The U.K. government has unveiled plans to boost the country’s AI assurance ecosystem.
• AI Assurance refers to the tools and techniques used to measure, evaluate, and communicate the trustworthiness of AI systems.
• Regulation in the country is being closely watched as observers seek to assess its impact on innovation.

If the U.S. pursues deregulation under Donald Trump just as other governments are taking a serious approach to AI safety, this could create a regulatory imbalance that disadvantages European companies.

Such a scenario would be especially damaging to the U.K., which has always played a key role in AI innovation.

However, the government is hoping to maintain its position by doubling down on safety to unlock what it claims could be a £6.5 billion market for “AI assurance.”

What is AI Assurance?

AI assurance refers to the tools and techniques used to measure, evaluate, and communicate the trustworthiness of AI systems.

While it isn’t the only driver of AI adoption, in a report  published on Wednesday, Nov. 6, the government argued that a robust assurance ecosystem “is critical to give consumers, industry, and regulators the confidence that AI systems work and are used as intended.”

Crucially, the report highlights that AI assurance represents a market in its own right, one the government projects could be worth £6.53 billion or more by 2035.

Already, the government estimates that 524 firms make up the U.K.’s AI assurance sector, contributing over a billion pounds to the country’s economy and employing 12,572 people.

To promote responsible and compliant AI adoption, the government is launching a new AI assurance platform described as a “one-stop-shop” to help businesses identify potential AI risks and mitigate them.

AI Safety on the International Stage

Since the U.K. hosted the AI Safety Summit  in November 2023, the country has promoted international alignment on safety standards.

During the Biden administration, the U.S. sought to shape the global conversation on the issue. Washington agreed to work with the U.K. to develop safety tests for AI models.

However, Trump has adopted a markedly different tone, vowing to repeal Biden’s Executive Order on responsible AI and hinting at a wider deregulatory agenda.

It remains to be seen where that leaves initiatives like the U.K.–U.S. partnership. But if the U.S. pulls back from international commitments made by the Biden administration, it would significantly undermine attempts to reach an international consensus on safety standards.

Regulation and Innovation

While proponents of unrestrained markets often depict regulation as an unnecessary burden that stifles innovation, even die-hard economic libertarians acknowledge that certain industries require more oversight than others.

In the post-Brexit era, the U.K. government has moved to cut red tape to reduce the regulatory burden on businesses. Nevertheless, the country still remains closely aligned with the EU on two key issues that affect the AI sector: data protection and intellectual property.

With the EU’s AI Act, the two jurisdictions have moved further apart as the EU embraces a more prescriptive approach to AI risk. That being said, the new rules still bind British businesses that operate in the EU, and EU regulations will likely continue to exert significant force on the U.K.’s AI industry.

In a country that has produced some of the world’s leading AI research and most successful AI companies outside of Silicon Valley, the government’s latest plan for AI Assurance reflects the influence and economic pull of its closest neighbors.

This, rather than any desire to undercut, is ultimately a global movement toward greater regulation of the space.