My Lords, I am grateful for the opportunity to take part in this debate, and I add to the plaudits directed at the noble Baroness, Lady Kidron, who has prosecuted her agenda on digital safety and digital rights for more than a decade with acute skill and has certainly moved...

My Lords, I am grateful for the opportunity to take part in this debate, and I add to the plaudits directed at the noble Baroness, Lady Kidron, who has prosecuted her agenda on digital safety and digital rights for more than a decade with acute skill and has certainly moved...

My Lords, I am grateful to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Keeley, so early in this debate, and I thank her for securing this subject for us to discuss. I echo much of what she said, which I will return to in a moment.

I congratulate the Minister on surviving the...

My Lords, I am grateful to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Keeley, so early in this debate, and I thank her for securing this subject for us to discuss. I echo much of what she said, which I will return to in a moment.

I congratulate the Minister on surviving the...

My Lords—

My Lords—

My Lords, should China, or indeed any other country, wish to co-operate with us on AI policy, whom should they call? The Minister at DBIST, DCMS or the Cabinet Office, or the Prime Minister’s AI adviser at the Office for the Prime Minister and the Cabinet?

My Lords, should China, or indeed any other country, wish to co-operate with us on AI policy, whom should they call? The Minister at DBIST, DCMS or the Cabinet Office, or the Prime Minister’s AI adviser at the Office for the Prime Minister and the Cabinet?

My Lords—

My Lords—

My Lords, I am delighted that Kanishka Narayan, who is a great Minister, has gone into the Cabinet but it is obvious that the abolition of DSIT is a phenomenal waste of time. It will take three months of civil servants’ time when they should be focused on policies. The...

My Lords, I am delighted that Kanishka Narayan, who is a great Minister, has gone into the Cabinet but it is obvious that the abolition of DSIT is a phenomenal waste of time. It will take three months of civil servants’ time when they should be focused on policies. The...

My Lords, it is a pleasure to take part in this debate at Second Reading. I am taking part not because I was once hacked but because I was very briefly the Cyber Security Minister—which is almost as surprising as learning that I was once the Minister of Fashion.

Several themes...

My Lords, it is a pleasure to take part in this debate at Second Reading. I am taking part not because I was once hacked but because I was very briefly the Cyber Security Minister—which is almost as surprising as learning that I was once the Minister of Fashion.

Several themes...

To Ministers.

To Ministers.

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Brennan, on his epically superb speech. I declare my interest as a trustee of the KOKO Foundation. As all noble Lords know, KOKO is a fantastically cool music venue in Camden. In fact, it was made live music venue of the year.

Stemming...

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Brennan, on his epically superb speech. I declare my interest as a trustee of the KOKO Foundation. As all noble Lords know, KOKO is a fantastically cool music venue in Camden. In fact, it was made live music venue of the year.

Stemming...

My Lords, I know that the noble Lord, Lord Brennan, is going to sum up, because we have time.

Oh. Can we not use the remaining seven minutes for more points? I had such an incredible point to make.

My Lords, I know that the noble Lord, Lord Brennan, is going to sum up, because we have time.

Oh. Can we not use the remaining seven minutes for more points? I had such an incredible point to make.

My Lords, my understanding is that the US Government took urgent action because of security flaws found in the AI model in question. They used the legislation that was available to them. There was no sinister or hidden agenda in their decision to cut it off, and it has been...

My Lords, my understanding is that the US Government took urgent action because of security flaws found in the AI model in question. They used the legislation that was available to them. There was no sinister or hidden agenda in their decision to cut it off, and it has been...

My Lords, I am chair of the UK-ASEAN Business Council, and the Minister will be aware that the Philippines is currently the president of ASEAN and, indeed, the whole region works very closely with the UK on climate change and green technologies. Could the Minister update

the House on the engagement the UK is currently undertaking with the Philippines during its presidency of ASEAN?

My Lords, I am chair of the UK-ASEAN Business Council, and the Minister will be aware that the Philippines is currently the president of ASEAN and, indeed, the whole region works very closely with the UK on climate change and green technologies. Could the Minister update

the House on the engagement the UK is currently undertaking with the Philippines during its presidency of ASEAN?

My Lords, as a Chelsea fan, I take this opportunity to congratulate Arsenal on winning the Premier League and to commiserate with Spurs on their imminent relegation.

I have to say that I am confused by these exchanges— a retailer inviting government interference on prices, a Conservative doing the same and a Scotchman inviting

English interference in Scottish sport. I do not know which way to turn. However, while I appreciate the sentiment of regulating sports shirts, where does this end? We know that the Government are apparently planning to regulate prices in supermarkets on eggs and milk, which has been roundly condemned by retailers. Will that extend to season tickets and Sky Sports subscriptions? It is a dangerous road that the Minister is being invited to travel down.

My Lords, as a Chelsea fan, I take this opportunity to congratulate Arsenal on winning the Premier League and to commiserate with Spurs on their imminent relegation.

I have to say that I am confused by these exchanges— a retailer inviting government interference on prices, a Conservative doing the same and a Scotchman inviting

English interference in Scottish sport. I do not know which way to turn. However, while I appreciate the sentiment of regulating sports shirts, where does this end? We know that the Government are apparently planning to regulate prices in supermarkets on eggs and milk, which has been roundly condemned by retailers. Will that extend to season tickets and Sky Sports subscriptions? It is a dangerous road that the Minister is being invited to travel down.

My Lords, I will ask the Minister a couple of questions. This breach has had a silver lining: to remind us that the UK Biobank is a remarkable project and an act of British soft power—and, indeed, altruism—which has been used by 22,000 researchers in 60 countries and produced 18,000...

My Lords, I will ask the Minister a couple of questions. This breach has had a silver lining: to remind us that the UK Biobank is a remarkable project and an act of British soft power—and, indeed, altruism—which has been used by 22,000 researchers in 60 countries and produced 18,000...

To ask His Majesty's Government how many governors of independent schools are required to verify their identity using Verifile.

To ask His Majesty's Government how many governors of independent schools are required to verify their identity using Verifile.

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Department for Education is responsible for undertaking identity checks for governors of independent schools.

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Department for Education is responsible for undertaking identity checks for governors of independent schools.

To ask His Majesty's Government how many governors of independent schools fail an identity check using Verifile each year.

To ask His Majesty's Government how many governors of independent schools fail an identity check using Verifile each year.

My Lords, the anti-money laundering regulations are imposed on people who are politically exposed without any nuance whatever, and not in accordance with the legislation or regulations, which require banks to assess people on a case-by-case basis—nor are customers told why they are being refused. There appears to be no mechanism for any kind of appeal or redress. Will the Minister talk with the FCA and the numerous ombudsmen who appear to work on this area and at least allow customers to talk to a human being rather than a computer that is programmed to say no in all circumstances?

My Lords, the anti-money laundering regulations are imposed on people who are politically exposed without any nuance whatever, and not in accordance with the legislation or regulations, which require banks to assess people on a case-by-case basis—nor are customers told why they are being refused. There appears to be no mechanism for any kind of appeal or redress. Will the Minister talk with the FCA and the numerous ombudsmen who appear to work on this area and at least allow customers to talk to a human being rather than a computer that is programmed to say no in all circumstances?

My Lords, the noble Lord’s question was spot on, but may I focus on a slightly different area? I read over the weekend that Anthropic has produced software that it now deems too dangerous to launch publicly because of its huge impact on cyber security. This artificial intelligence is apparently able to crack all the flaws and bugs in cyber security systems, which obviously could have a devastating impact on our economy, given that it is now so digitally based. What plans do the Government have to discuss this concerning issue with Anthropic?

My Lords, the noble Lord’s question was spot on, but may I focus on a slightly different area? I read over the weekend that Anthropic has produced software that it now deems too dangerous to launch publicly because of its huge impact on cyber security. This artificial intelligence is apparently able to crack all the flaws and bugs in cyber security systems, which obviously could have a devastating impact on our economy, given that it is now so digitally based. What plans do the Government have to discuss this concerning issue with Anthropic?

My Lords, we have had a plethora of initiatives on AI. We had the welcome announcement of the sovereign AI fund last week. All of them are welcome individually: Innovate UK, ARIA, the AI Security Institute, the British Business Bank, and the National Wealth Fund. Could we perhaps have a moratorium on announcements of AI initiatives and perhaps an overview and co-ordination of this plethora of bodies?

My Lords, we have had a plethora of initiatives on AI. We had the welcome announcement of the sovereign AI fund last week. All of them are welcome individually: Innovate UK, ARIA, the AI Security Institute, the British Business Bank, and the National Wealth Fund. Could we perhaps have a moratorium on announcements of AI initiatives and perhaps an overview and co-ordination of this plethora of bodies?