Microsoft president Brad Smith told the BBC that AI is currently less regulated than everyday products such as milk and washing machines and urged urgent global safety rules. He called for legal obligations for firms to file incident reports and notify "victims" if a system is breached by a rogue AI agent, and for independent government evaluators to sign off on AI products before release. Smith also urged firms to implement "emergency brakes" known in industry as kill switches to pause or slow systems that get out of control. He said the United Kingdom, citing its AI Security Institute launched under former prime minister Rishi Sunak, is best placed to lead international rulemaking. Smith contrasted his position with President Donald Trump, who favors industry self-regulation to avoid disadvantaging US firms, but he suggested Washington might accept UK-led standards more readily than EU rules. Smith noted that bosses of Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google DeepMind have supported a development slowdown, and he pointed to a recent White House meeting where tech executives agreed to work with independent auditors to assess AI systems. He said the moment for action has arrived and urged calm but firm global coordination, a role he hopes Microsoft and the UK will play.
Key Highlights
Brad Smith said AI is less regulated than milk and washing machines.
Smith called for legal incident reports, victim notifications, and independent pre-release evaluation.
Smith named the UK, citing its AI Security Institute, as best placed to lead.