The formal state opening of Parliament took place today, 17 July. The King’s speech includes bills covering data and cyber security. But there’s nothing about AI and that’s a notable absence.

In his speech, King Charles III outlined several new proposed laws. If you’re intrigued about the pomp and ceremony of the state opening of Parliament, click here. If you’re after the text of the King’s speech, click here (PDF). Here are some initial observations:

Digital Information and Smart Data Bill

The new Labour bill covers some of the same ground. At this stage, it lacks the detail of how it will adjust the core data protection laws but it does propose:

• establishing Digital Verification Services including age verification. The previous government had been trying to tackle this and, while it can be a good measure, needs to be handled carefully. Again, I wrote about previously
• setting up Smart Data schemes. The idea is to allow customers to request their data be shared with third-party providers. It identifies that the Open Banking scheme is the only real equivalent at present.

The new government wants to enable more and better digital public services and help scientists make better use of data for research (which was in the last government’s bill too). It also plans to “modernise and strengthen” the ICO to ensure continued protection of personal data.

Cyber Security and Resilience Bill

It recognises that the EU has updated its own laws and, as the UK laws were derived pre-Brexit from the EU, they’re due an update. It says the new Bill will update regulations around the UK’s critical infrastructure by the following:

• expanding regulation to protect more digital services and supply chains. In this instance, it mentions the recent ransomware attack affecting London hospitals.
• giving regulators more scope to ensure cyber safety measures are being implemented. This will include powers and ability to cover its costs
• mandating increased incident reporting by regulated entities

AI Bill

The speech says the government will seek to establish legislation to place requirements on those working to develop the most powerful AI models. But it has not included a bill to do so. This is odd given that Labour included a commitment in its manifesto (PDF – see p35). Also, AI is prevalent – I mentioned in May that 35% of businesses are already using AI. Remember, this speech references the government wants to “unlock growth and take the brakes off Britain”. AI is surely part of that growth. Even the UK CMA is already investigating whether competition is being restricted in the AI sector and the EU has passed its own AI Act, albeit with some criticism.

What’s next?

This was the first King’s speech since the new Labour government won power at the beginning of the month and the first on behalf of a Labour government for 15 years. This speech only covers the next 12-18 months, so they’re not going to be able to do everything all at once. We await publication of the actual bills to see the detail and how these will affect businesses. My initial impressions are that the bills will prove less controversial than under the previous government. Omitting AI is a notable absence though.

If you need advice, contact me at +44 20 3824 9748 or fjennings@hcrlaw.com.