Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark has told the BBC that a mandatory AI “kill switch” verifiable by a third party may eventually need to be enforced by law, according to BBC. His warning comes as AI executives and staff publicly fear the technology could one day kill all humans, with Anthropic scientist Evan Hubinger putting the odds above 10% within a decade. Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton called that estimate “not unreasonable.”

UK Government Rejects the Concept

The UK government has rejected the idea of creating a so-called “kill switch” to stop a dangerous attack from rogue AI, according to BBC. The proposal to create a legal mechanism for the UK to switch off an AI model in an emergency has been brought to Parliament by lords and MPs in recent weeks as fears grow about the threat the tech poses.

But the Cabinet Office, the part of government which leads on AI safety — said the UK “cannot simply turn AI off.” “Blocking access to models in the UK would not prevent them being developed or misused elsewhere,” a spokesperson told BBC News. The government’s opposition to the legislation does not prevent it from progressing through parliament, but makes it unlikely it will become law.

Feasibility of a Single-Country Solution

Former OpenAI researcher Daniel Kokotajlo agreed the idea of a single country creating a legal or technical kill switch without international agreement was not feasible. “Switching off access to an AI model in an emergency will do little to protect you,” he said. “You’re still going to be steamrolled by the super intelligences created in the US.”

Kokotajlo is the co-author of an influential research paper called AI2027 which, last year, predicted AI could wipe out humans by the mid-2030s. The Cabinet Office, which oversees AI safety and research via its AI Security Institute (AISI), said “companies have a clear responsibility to develop their products safely and to invest in the security infrastructure this technology requires.” In theory, a kill switch law could allow the UK to switch off an AI model in data centres in the UK in an emergency.

Criticism and Alternative Views

While most labs, including Anthropic, already have ways to pull the plug, Clark argued society “might want to eventually pass rules around” requiring one. His warning comes amid growing concern about AI safety and the potential existential risks it poses. However, not all experts share the same level of alarm. Hugging Face’s Clement Delangue accused firms of inflating doom to generate hype and justify sky-high valuations.

Meanwhile, the US Kill Switch Act is advancing, and former President Donald Trump has dismissed AI fears as a “HOAX.” The UK’s outright rejection of the idea highlights the differing approaches to AI governance across countries. Critics argue that without a global framework, efforts to regulate AI will remain fragmented and ineffective.