Prime Minister Starmer is stepping up efforts to crack down on artificial intelligence chatbots spreading harmful content and pledging to ensure they comply with laws to keep children safe online. The UK will require all AI chatbot providers to take responsibility for moderating and preventing illegal content, making them compliant with the Online Safety Act. Starmer will announce the move in a speech on Monday. Currently, the law only applies to platforms where content is shared between users, such as social media, and not to private chatbots.
According to a statement issued before Starmer's speech, "The government will move quickly to close legal loopholes and force all AI chatbot providers to comply with the obligations under the Online Safety Bill regarding illegal content or face the consequences of breaking the law."
"No platform is exempt," the Prime Minister will say in his speech. "Today we are closing the loopholes that put children at risk."
In the era of artificial intelligence, the British government is stepping up efforts to strengthen safeguards, especially for children. Last week Starmer said he would enforce a law banning the sexualization of personal images without their consent, calling such content generated by Elon Musk's AI product Grok "disgusting and disgraceful".
Starmer will also set out new legal powers to take immediate action to keep children safe online, allowing measures to keep pace with rapidly evolving technology without having to wait for new foundational legislation.
The moves could include setting a minimum age for social media and restricting features such as infinite scrolling, following a government consultation on children's online welfare.