King’s speech: AI implications for IP

What did the King’s Speech say about AI?

Many of us working on inventions in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector were watching the King’s speech with anticipation following rumors of an AI bill. Although the speech did not explicitly commit to an AI bill, it did state that the UK Government “will seek to establish the appropriate legislation to place requirements on those working to develop the most powerful artificial intelligence models.” This is viewed by many as a departure from the previous government’s approach. However, details about what form this legislation might take are scarce. 

The briefing notes accompanying the speech do little to shed light on this, stating that Keir Starmer’s Government will “harness the power of artificial intelligence as we look to strengthen safety frameworks.”

What is happening elsewhere in the world?

When it comes to legislation around the globe, the EU is currently leading the way, with the EU AI Act coming into force in August 2024. It sets out different rules for AI of differing risk levels:

Unacceptable risk – systems considered a threat to people will be banned including:

• Cognitive behavioral manipulation of people or specific vulnerable groups: e.g., voice-activated toys that encourage dangerous behavior in children
• Social scoring: e.g., classifying people based on behavior, socioeconomic status, or personal characteristics
• Biometric identification and categorization of people; and
• Real-time and remote biometric identification systems, e.g., facial recognition.

High risk – this is split into two categories:

1. AI Systems used in products falling under EU product safety legislation (including, for example, toys, aviation, cars, medical devices, and lifts). 
2. AI systems in 8 specific areas – will need to be registered on an EU database:

• Management and operation of critical infrastructure
• Education and vocational training
• Employment, worker management, and access to self-employment
• Access to and enjoyment of essential private services and public services and benefits
• Law enforcement
• Migration, asylum, and border control management
• Assistance in legal interpretation and application of the law.

High-risk AI systems will need to be assessed before being put on the market, as well as throughout their lifecycle.

Generative AI – will need to comply with the following transparency requirements:

• Disclosing that the content was generated by AI;
• Designing the model to prevent it from generating illegal content and
• Publishing summaries of copyrighted data used for training.

Limited Risk – Users should be made aware when they are interacting with AI. This includes AI systems that generate or manipulate image, audio, or video content, e.g., deepfakes.

Penalties for non-compliance with the act can be substantial, with fines ranging from €7.5 million or 1.5% of global turnover to €35 million or 7% of global turnover. 

In the United States, the Colorado AI Act is set to come into effect in February 2026 and follows a similar approach to that of the EU AI Act in that it applies a risk-based approach. The high-risk categories of the Colorado AI Act have some overlap with those of the EU AI Act but are not identical. 

So, what can we expect in the UK?

Reference in the King’s speech to “most powerful artificial intelligence models” suggests that any legislation in the UK may have a much narrower scope than that of the EU AI Act in that it may focus on AI models developed or deployed by larger entities. This would appear to align with the Labour Party manifesto, in which it was stated that “Labour will ensure the safe development and use of AI models by introducing binding regulation on the handful of companies developing the most powerful AI models and by banning the creation of sexually explicit deep fakes.”

A divergence between EU and UK AI law could cause a headache for businesses operating in both jurisdictions. It is worth noting that the EU AI Act extends to cover developers/deployers in the UK if their AI systems are available in the EU market or if their output affects EU residents. 

UK companies operating AI-related inventions in the EU market should take a good look at the EU AI Act now. It is particularly worth noting that the transparency requirements will become applicable in August 2025, 12 months after entry into force. 

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