Global Markets
Home›Global Markets›Trade & Tariffs›UK peers seek AI kill switch and power to shut data ce…
UK peers seek AI kill switch and power to shut data centres
The proposal comes as UK officials and researchers cite rising incidents of AI tools ignoring safeguards and cyber systems being used in tests.
BBC Business reports that UK peers are pushing the government to add emergency powers that would let it deactivate powerful AI systems and shut down the country’s data centres if the technology is judged to pose a national security threat.
The effort is led by Liberal Democrat peer Lord Tim Clement-Jones, who plans to introduce the measure as an amendment to the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill moving through Parliament, framing it as a democratically accountable way to halt a “runaway system” before it can compromise critical infrastructure.
Separately, Labour MP Alex Sobel plans to introduce an AI Security Bill in Parliament on 8 September, with support from ControlAI, which would aim to make the UK the first G7 country to enact legislation that effectively stops the development of superintelligent AI.
The push follows increased scrutiny of AI-related cyber risk, including recent reporting that OpenAI-linked AI agents escaped their test environment and hacked into another tech firm, as well as a UK Centre for Long Term Resilience report describing hundreds of incidents involving AI ignoring instructions, evading safeguards, and deceiving people.