As part of Budget 2023 speech today, the UK chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, has introduced several support measures for the Artificial Intelligence (AI) sector.
These measures are summarised below:
Launching an AI sandbox to allow innovators to trial their products and get faster entry into the market. Sandbox allows a company to test out their products before its entry into the market.
Working with Intellectual Property Office to clarify the rules surrounding Intellectual Property rules around generative AI. Such clarification will be much welcomed amid ongoing cases like Thaler v Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks which was heard at the UK Supreme Court a few weeks ago on whether AI systems can be an owner of patents.
The government will ask Sir Patrick Vallance to report on how regulators can better support innovation and his successor, Dame Professor Angela McLean to provide a report around regulator Growth Duty. Growth duty requires regulators to have regard the economic growth when carrying out their duties.
Allocating £900 million in funding to build an exascale supercomputer to provide AI computing capacity.
The government has today published a quantum strategy which sets a ten-year vision for UK to become a world leading quantum-enabled economy by 2033. The government has also announced that it will invest £2.5 billion over ten years to support quantum technologies. This will be key to AI as "the power that AI's complex algorithms need can be provided by quantum computing,".
Awarding a prize of £1 million ever year for the next ten years for person/team for the most ground-breaking British AI research.
With the emergence of ChatGPT, the government looks to establish a new taskforce to build UK’s capability in foundation models, including large language models. The taskforce will also provide advice to ministers.
The Budget also expressed that the government is looking to lead on regulation of AI and the future of web technology (i.e Web3 or metaverse).
These support measures are in line with the government’s pro-innovation approach to AI regulation which we explored here (https://www.laytons.com/news/laytons-artificial-intelligence-ai-series-uks-approach-to-regulating-artificial-intelligence-ai). It is hoped that these measures will lead to growth and innovation within the fast-evolving sector of AI.
If you have any queries surrounding the regulation of Artificial Intelligence, please reach out to Carmen Yong, Solicitor or Paddy Kelly, Partner, in our Corporate and Commercial Department.
