Microsoft President Brad Smith says the United Kingdom is uniquely positioned to lead global artificial intelligence regulation.

Microsoft President Brad Smith is calling for urgent global regulation of artificial intelligence, warning that everyday consumer items face stricter oversight than the technology. Speaking on a BBC podcast, Smith argued that the United Kingdom is uniquely positioned to lead these safety rules rather than the United States or the European Union.

He highlighted Britain’s AI Security Institute, launched in 2023, which tests major models from U.S. labs before deployment. This British testing role recently faced political pressure after U.S. President Donald Trump warned against globalist groups and reportedly asked Anthropic and OpenAI to withhold new models, though the institute confirmed its continued access.

Smith dismissed voluntary tech industry agreements as insufficient because they only bind responsible companies. He proposed legal obligations to report security breaches by rogue artificial intelligence systems, mandatory outside evaluations before public release, and emergency kill switches to halt systems if humans lose control. While Trump recently hosted major tech leaders at the White House to sign a safety document involving independent auditors, Smith maintains that binding legal rules are necessary to govern irresponsible operators.