The UK government is releasing a new blueprint for AI regulation, which it says will slash bureaucracy and ramp up the safe adoption of AI.

At the Times Tech Summit, the Technology Secretary will announce plans to look at how companies and innovators can test new AI products in real-world conditions, with some rules and regulations temporarily relaxed under supervision.

Known as sandboxes, individual regulations are temporarily switched off or tweaked for a limited period of time in safe, controlled testing environments.

They would initially be set up for key sectors of the economy like healthcare, professional services, transport, and the use of robotics in advanced manufacturing, to accelerate the responsible development and deployment of AI products.

AI applications hold the potential to make the lives of citizens better, faster. The AI Growth Lab will pilot responsible AI which can otherwise be held back by certain regulation, and generate real-world evidence for the impact they can deliver.

This will ramp up adoption of AI and deliver opportunities for people across the country, cutting bureaucracy that can choke innovation and supporting businesses to flourish to deliver tangible national renewal.

“To deliver national renewal, we need to overhaul the old approaches which have stifled enterprise and held back our innovators,” technology secretary Liz Kendall said.

“We want to remove the needless red tape that slows progress so we can drive growth and modernise the public services people rely on every day.

“This isn’t about cutting corners – it’s about fast-tracking responsible innovations that will improve lives and deliver real benefits.”

In a further push to unlock benefits for the wider public through AI, a pot of £1 million is being set aside to support the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to pilot AI-assisted tools.

These would support scientific expertise, speed up drug discovery and clinical trial assessments, and licensing to improve efficiency and consistency – while keeping all decisions firmly in human hands.

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The continued safe and responsible development of AI would be central to the government’s plans for its proposed AI Growth Lab.

It would not be a testing ground where regulations could be switched on or switched off at will, but would see strict, time limited restrictions being put in place to set out which specific regulatory hurdles could be avoided or modified under close supervision.

It will be overseen by tech and regulatory experts and backed up by a strict licensing scheme with strong safeguards, meaning any breaches of individual agreements, or the emergence of unacceptable risks would stop testing in its tracks and open users who have breached their terms up to potential fines.

The government will now move ahead with a public call for views on its AI Growth Lab proposals. At the heart of that process will be considerations over whether the programme should be run in-house by the government, or overseen by regulators themselves.