After widespread reporting that prime minister Keir Starmer would be introducing an AI bill in the King’s Speech today [17 July], no such measure was announced. However, the government said it was seeking to “establish the appropriate legislation” to enable regulation of AI in the UK.
Labour previously committed to “Ensure the safe development and use of AI models by “introducing binding regulation on the handful of companies developing the most powerful AI models and by banning the creation of sexually explicit deepfakes” in its manifesto.
However, one bill that was announced today was a new Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, which will be used to expand current regulation so it includes more digital services and offers better protection to supply chains.
The bill will give regulators more power to ensure cybersecurity measures and mandate increased incident reporting to improve national response times to cyberattacks.
The announcement follows a ransomware attack on blood testing firm Synnovis on 3 June 2024 that has disrupted service provision across south east London. As a result, almost 8,000 NHSe patient procedures, including organ transplants and cancer treatments, have been cancelled, postponed or diverted to other service providers.
“My ministers will get Britain building, including through planning reform, as they seek to accelerate the delivery of high quality infrastructure and housing [Planning and Infrastructure Bill],” said King Charles III.
“They will also pursue sustainable growth by encouraging investment in industry, skills and new technologies.”
The cybersecurity legislation will be joined by a new Digital Information and Smart Data Bill to explore use cases for data to drive economic growth.
The new legislation will seek to establish digital verification services, including digital identity products to help the public quickly and securely share essential personal information while using online services in their daily lives.
Additionally, the bill would legislate the creation of a National Underground Asset Register, providing planners and excavators with immediate, standardised access to pipe and cable data nationwide.