The UK government is conducting an urgent assessment of the economic impact of a potential loss of access to advanced AI models, the Financial Times reported, citing sources.
According to them, the cabinet has instructed the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade to assess the potential damage to the UK economy if access to new versions of AI models from US companies Anthropic and OpenAI is blocked, after the Trump administration blocked foreign nationals from accessing Anthropic's advanced AI models in June. The work is expected to be completed within weeks.
Officials want to assess both the economic damage of a potential loss of access to innovation and the risks to cybersecurity. “When a new AI model is launched, businesses immediately start thinking about how best to use it. If the UK is left without access to these technologies, even for a few weeks, it will hit the economy,” a British government source told the newspaper.
Ciaran Martin, former head of the National Cyber Security Centre, called Washington’s experience with export controls on the Fable 5 model somewhat encouraging, as Anthropic was forced to withdraw it from the market entirely due to the inability to restrict access exclusively to foreigners. He also warned that the US could use the ability to manipulate access to AI as leverage.
The British government is simultaneously trying to strengthen its own AI capabilities with an investment of 1.1 billion pounds (over 1.4 billion USD) in necessary equipment and a sovereign AI fund of 500 million pounds (over 670 million USD). In July, the cabinet appointed a minister of state for AI development, along with a new AI task force.
On June 12, Anthropic reported that U.S. authorities had asked foreign users to block access to the Claudio Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models. The company was forced to cut off all users. The Commerce Department cited national security concerns for its request. By July, however, U.S. authorities had lifted previously imposed export control restrictions on AI.