PM to join controversial tech billionaire for conversation hosted on the latter’s X platform, in an event that will take place after the conclusion of the government’s AI Safety Summit
Prime minister Rishi Sunak has announced an in-conversation event with tech magnate Elon Musk tomorrow.
The head of Tesla and Space, and X – formerly known as Twitter – is also expected to attend the two-day AI Safety Summit which begins today at Bletchley Park, where computer scientist Alan Turing helped decipher German codes during the Second World War.
Sunak confirmed the event in an X post that read: “In conversation with Elon Musk. After the AI Safety Summit. Thursday night on X.”
The tech billionaire has been outspoken on his concerns about AI over recent years.
Related content
- GOV.UK Chat – government tests AI from ChatGPT firm to answer online users’ questions
- Terrorism: Government keeping tabs on potential for radicalising chatbots, minister says
- Artificial intelligence to empower public services, says minister
In March he signed an open letter, alongside around 100 other public figures, calling for a halt in advanced AI developments. The document said the race was “out of control” creating significant “risks to society and humanity”.
Musk is also the co-founder of OpenAI – creator of ChatGPT – from which he pulled out in 2018 over disagreements over the speed of the technology’s advancement.
In an interview with Fox News, the tech entrepreneur also said AI had “the potential of civilisation destruction”.
“A regulatory agency needs to start with a group that initially seeks insight into AI, then solicits opinion from industry, and then has proposed rule-making,” he added.
The government’s summit will discuss measures to mitigate the potential threats of AI.
It will bring together country leaders and relevant stakeholder representatives. Other attendees are expected to include US vice president Kamala Harris and European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen.
