Microsoft president Brad Smith has called for global safety rules for artificial intelligence, arguing that the technology currently faces weaker regulation than everyday products such as milk and washing machines.

Speaking on the BBC’s Big Boss Interview, published on October 11, Smith said ordinary products are subject to safety rules and inspection while AI — which he described as both a tool and a weapon — is deployed with minimal oversight. His comments put one of the most powerful executives in AI at odds with US President Donald Trump, who wants the sector to regulate itself so American firms do not lose ground to Chinese rivals.

Emergency brakes and incident reports

Smith’s proposals read like a product-safety regime for AI. Firms would need emergency brakes — industry kill switches that can pause or slow down a model if it goes out of control — and face a legal duty to write incident reports and tell victims when rogue AI causes a breach. He also wants independent government evaluators to vet and sign off on new AI systems before release.

He welcomed a recent industry statement backing independent auditing but said it was not sufficient, since less responsible companies remain the concern. As he put it, the industry knows how to do safety for other products and should build on that knowledge for AI.

The UK as the rule-setter

Smith said Britain is best placed to drive forward global AI rules through its AI Security Institute, launched as the AI Safety Institute under former prime minister Rishi Sunak’s government. His intervention follows growing calls for controls after senior AI leaders warned the technology could pose a threat to humanity — with the bosses of Anthropic, OpenAI and Google DeepMind all backing an AI development slowdown.

Trump has pushed back against that idea. Smith urged action now, telling the BBC: let’s get started today.