Kanishka Narayan, the UK’s new Artificial Intelligence Minister, confirmed that the government could impose tighter regulations on the growing industry should voluntary testing systems be found unsatisfactory.
Narayan was appointed after Andy Burnham became prime minister on July 20, 2026, as part of Burnham’s reshuffle of the cabinet. This is the first time that a government post dedicated to overseeing AI has existed in the UK.
The establishment of this new position came alongside the scrapping of the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology (DSIT), a move that has been criticised by some as a waste of time and resources at a critical time for the growth of AI and the country’s economy, and as an example of short-term thinking by the government.
A growing trend
As Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State under the previous, Keir Starmer-led government, Narayan had already held responsibility for AI opportunities, the AI Security Institute, semiconductors and online safety. With DSIT now scrapped, he no longer answers to a separate Technology Secretary, instead sitting in the cabinet directly.
This new ministry is one of several shakeups made so far by Burnham, who has pledged to “bring forward the biggest changes in the last forty years” upon becoming the UK’s latest PM and leader of the governing centre-left Labour Party.
The designation also makes the UK one of several nations to have set up separate government ministries responsible for AI in recent years, alongside the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Kazakhstan, and Albania – though in the case of Albania, it is in fact an AI generated figure, nicknamed Diella, in charge of this.
In a statement to Parliament on behalf of Burnham, Lord Privy Seal Baroness Smith of Basildon, said the functions of DSIT will be redistributed to align with the UK’s core economic and social agenda.
“Recognising that the transformative scale of AI advances requires a strategic, whole-of-government approach from the centre, the Prime Minister is establishing a new AI Taskforce. To deliver this step change, responsibility for AI strategy, public sector AI adoption and the AI Security Institute will move to the Cabinet Office,” she stressed.
Narayan’s background in venture capital has raised questions for some. Elke Schwarz, professor of political theory at the Queen Mary University of London, told EU Reports she welcomed the creation of the new post, and that Narayan is well-qualified to understand the tech industry and the venture funding behind it.
But, she added, “he approaches the AI environment from a less critical perspective that I think we need right now, in a moment where AI companies are somewhat trampling over established norms and rights.”
A qualified defence
Following his appointment, Narayan claimed that this was a sign of the new government’s “deep commitment to AI’s importance”.
“The proper use of AI will help reindustrialize the UK, strengthen national security, and improve public services,” he stressed. “AI is likely the most significant technology in human history. Its impact will dwarf other things. The best case for it is compelling beyond our dreams: a reindustrialised Britain, stronger national security, public services transformed for the better.”
Already, the government has announced that classes in AI and its use will become part of secondary education throughout the UK, alongside other technical subjects like manufacturing.
Schwarz specified that this is a position that is already buying into the AI hype in a way that is unhelpful for broader societal norms. “It elevates AI to more than it perhaps should be without clear and empirical evidence that AI really has beneficial transformative effects.”
Narayan has acknowledged the potential risks that are also posed by AI, further stating that “the public’s concerns and fears about the acceleration of job changes and transformation are legitimate.”
He has since indicated that the government will be looking at regulating advanced AI models if the current decentralized, voluntary regulation system is found to be insufficient to protect the public.
In an interview with Reuters earlier this month, Narayan stated that the government’s focus must be on protecting the public, adding that “if it feels like regulation might be a way that helps us do that, of course, we will look at it.”
Why now?
Narayan’s appointment follows recent cyber security breaches by AI giants Open AI and Anthropic, in which rogue AI agents escaped testing environments, producing numerous unauthorised actions which affected individuals and third party organisations.
Earlier in the year, former PM Starmer clashed with tech billionaire Elon Musk over potential restrictions or bans on social media platform X, after its AI chatbot Grok was used to create non-consensual deepfake images of women and children.
In June, the Labour government further announced that it would be joining the various other countries across Europe that have imposed a ban on social media for under 16s.
Read more: UK’s planned social media ban for under-16s met with cautious optimism
Currently, the UK’s AI Security Institute receives pre-deployment access under voluntary agreements to AI models from major AI businesses such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. This voluntary form of regulation mirrors that in the U.S., and had previously been praised by Narayan as “really, really unique.”
The proposed regulations would bring the UK more closely aligned with EU policy, too, which recently signed into law a landmark AI Act requiring AI systems to tell users when they are interacting with AI and when content has been generated or altered by it, whilst AI systems deemed to pose a high risk to individuals privacy or other rights will be prohibited.
According to the European Parliament, this is the world’s first comprehensive AI law, applying to all AI systems placed on the market or used in the EU, as well as AI systems outside the EU where their outputs are used within it.
The wider reaction
Surveys by AI research groups the Ada Lovelace Institute and the Alan Turing Institute found that 72% of UK citizens supported introducing tighter laws and regulations around AI laws.
On June 4, members of the UK’s House of Lords, led by Lord Holmes of Richmond, called for the government to revive plans for an AI bill that would “ensure the safe development and use of AI models”, a commitment first made in Labour’s 2024 manifesto.
Various academics and political commentators have also called for such a bill to be enacted as soon as possible, arguing that the use of AI by the government and the civil service demands greater monitoring and accountability.
“I am encouraged by [Narayan’s] declared willingness to institute regulation,” Schwarz added, “but I would argue that regulation (not self-regulation) is absolutely necessary, not a last resort instrument, if AI is to benefit the wider public.”
Peter Chai, research associate at Japan’s Waseda University, argues that such a bill should in fact go even further, and be seen not just as a question of regulation, but also about governance.
“When algorithms shape decisions about benefits entitlements, policing, housing and healthcare, they are exercising a form of public power. That power requires democratic legitimacy, not just administrative process.”
Featured image: Portrait of Minister Kanishka Narayan.
Author: Alecsandra Dragoi / DSIT
Source: Wikimedia Commons
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