A cross-party committee of MPs and peers has said the UK urgently needs a new AI bill because current laws are not equipped to deal with the human rights risks posed by artificial intelligence. The Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) said no country, including the UK, currently has a regulatory approach fit for purpose, warning that AI has already been linked to abuses such as the creation of sexualised images of women and girls and unconsented facial scanning. The report lands amid heightened global concern about AI's trajectory, coming days after Anthropic chief Dario Amodei called for slower development and tighter oversight, a view echoed by rivals Sam Altman and Elon Musk.

The JCHR's 100-page report calls for a "single, independent AI oversight body" to be established in law, arguing the existing legal framework is fragmented and leaves gaps in protection. It wants a new AI Bill to classify systems by risk level, impose stricter duties on higher-risk AI, place obligations on everyone in the supply chain, and ban some uses outright, such as subliminal techniques and inappropriate use of biometric data or profiling. Committee chair Alex Sobel MP said AI's rapid, complex development makes its impact hard to predict and that the UK is unprepared for the consequences. The report follows separate comments from a former Anthropic researcher, who said AI staff were "genuinely frightened" for humanity's future, while Anthropic said it builds models with strong industry safeguards.