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A warning from across the pond. The "Innovation" excuse for unsafe tech

ended 13. December 2025

The chaos unfolding in the US right now is a stark warning to the UK: this is what happens when you treat AI safety as an enemy of innovation rather than its foundation.

Washington State attempted to put basic human protections in place, ensuring AI cannot be the sole decision-maker in denying healthcare. The White House’s response wasn't to engage, but to crush local oversight in the name of "speed" and the "race against China." For those of us in the UK tech sector, this binary "innovation vs. regulation" mindset is dangerously outdated.

We are watching the US strip away the very guardrails that build public trust. The ACLU’s data on wrongful convictions reminds us that human systems are already flawed; automating them without the "onerous" checks the US President despises will only industrialise those errors. The UK has a unique opportunity to chart a third way between the US’s wild west deregulation and the EU’s heavy prescriptive approach, but only if we recognise that safety is a competitive advantage, not a tax.

We'd like your views:

  • Does the US "speed at all costs" approach put pressure on the UK to water down our own safety standards?
  • If US software becomes deregulated and potentially unsafe, how should UK companies vet American AI tools?
  • Can the UK actually win the "AI race" by being the safest place to deploy AI, rather than the fastest?
  • Washington State was blocked from protecting its own citizens—does this highlight the need for the UK to maintain fierce independence in its tech regulation?
  • Should the UK immediately legislate to ensure no NHS patient is denied care solely by an algorithm, regardless of where the tech comes from?

3 responses from the Newspage community

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Rohit Parmar-Mistry
Founder at Pattrn Data
The US blocking human oversight in healthcare isn't progress; it’s malpractice at scale. I’ve spent over 10 years in automation, and the 'move fast and break things' model falls apart when applied to people’s lives rather than social media feeds.

For the UK, this is a warning, not a blueprint. We are being pressured to water down standards to win a 'race' the US is rigging against safety. But if British companies import deregulated, 'black box' American AI tools, they are importing liability, bias, and hidden errors.

We can’t out-spend the US on raw compute, but we can out-trust them. The UK wins the 'AI race' by being the safe haven for reliable technology. We need immediate legislation ensuring no NHS patient is denied care solely by an algorithm. That isn't red tape; it's basic sense. Let the US be the Wild West; we should be the gold standard for AI that serves humans, not replaces them.
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Editor
Kate Allen
Owner at Finest Stays
We don’t need to copy the US in a race to the bottom. Watering down safety standards isn’t the way forward. The UK should hold itself to a higher bar and keep the NHS fiercely independent from unsafe, deregulated tech, leading as the safest and most responsible place to develop and deploy AI.
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Colette Mason
AI Ethics Consultant at Clever Clogs AI
We're watching the US strip away safeguards before they've even built the road. Human systems already fail catastrophically when we prioritise speed over scrutiny. Automating those failures doesn't make them innovative.

Should NHS patients be denied care by an algorithm alone? Absolutely not. Should UK businesses vet American AI tools more carefully now? Yes. Can safety actually be our competitive advantage? Only if we're brave enough to build it properly.