'A perilous moment'
Nick Pickles on bots, biometrics and the UK's rep.
Happy Friday,
Today we've got an interview with tech policy veteran Nick Pickles. He worked at the highest levels of Twitter for a decade and then led X's global policy under Elon Musk. He is now working for a company backed by Musk's arch-rival Sam Altman on "proving humanity" online.
Pickles talks about how UK tech policy is (or isn't) landing in the US, why we need to find a way to distinguish between agents and humans and the traits he's noticed working with the biggest names in tech.
Happening Today 📆
Over in Paris: Tech secretary Liz Kendall is in Paris today for a meeting of G7 digital ministers. The countries will later publish a joint declaration covering child safety online, AI adoption and AI security. A UK government insider denied a report in Politico that the UK was "clashing" with France by trying to "water down" how far the G7 commits to protecting children online.
Defence coaching: BT and Small Business Britain are launching a cyber crime course for SMEs today.
Next week: SXSW starts across venues in London on Monday. Speakers include Marc Warner (Monday), Audrey Tang (Tuesday). Kathleen Fisher, Tim Berners-Lee and Linda Griffin (Wednesday), George Osborne and Victor Riparbelli (Thursday). On Wednesday, Scale and TechUK host a "deep dive" on UK tech sovereignty, on Thursday the Lords debate AI regulation.
🚨 Paid subscribers have got exclusives on the Tony Blair Institute, the King's Speech, DSIT staff changes and the AI Adoption Conference in the last month. Join them with a free trial.
