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United Kingdom: Take Cues from Trump's Approach on AI and Copyright Regulations

AI's right to learn mirrors that of humans, asserts President Trump; in his address at the U.S. AI Action Plan launch, he emphasized two primary principles: first, AI should be granted the same opportunities for learning as humans, and second, without data, these opportunities are undermined.

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United Kingdom: Emulate Trump's Approach on AI and Copyright Matters
United Kingdom: Emulate Trump's Approach on AI and Copyright Matters

The UK government and former U.S. President Donald Trump have taken different stances on the delicate balance between AI innovation and copyright protection.

The current UK administration is actively engaging in discussions through expert working groups, established in July 2025. These groups aim to strike a balance between fostering AI advancements and safeguarding the interests of the creative industries with robust copyright protections. This process follows a wide-ranging consultation in December 2024, which garnered over 11,500 responses. The government is currently working on economic impact assessments and reports concerning AI training data and copyright use [1][2][3].

Representatives from both AI developers and creative sectors are part of these discussions, focusing on transparency for rights-holders and ethical AI training data access. However, the planned UK AI regulation legislation, the "UK AI Bill," has been delayed until summer 2026. Existing laws, such as the DUA Act, do not yet cover AI-specific copyright rules, as the government prefers to await consultation outcomes before further legislation [1][2][3].

In contrast, Trump's stance, as outlined in his U.S. AI Action Plan, advocated for minimal copyright restrictions on AI training data to accelerate AI development. He argued that AI should have similar learning rights as humans, with the caveat that AI should not be allowed to copy or plagiarize, mirroring human copyright laws [4].

Trump emphasized two key principles in his speech on the AI Action Plan: AI should have the same right to learn as humans do, and without data, the West will lose the AI race. His approach focused on promoting innovation and maintaining U.S. leadership by avoiding overly strict copyright rules that could hinder AI development [4].

Meanwhile, the UK's inaction on AI training may undermine government initiatives such as the AI Growth Zone (AIGZ), making them serve no other purpose than expensive reminders of a promise unfulfilled. Leading AI companies may look abroad for locales with more reasonable rules for AI development due to strict copyright rules in the UK [1][2][3].

One of the UK's leading AI firms, Stability AI, trains its models abroad, as the UK's failure to adopt a commonsense approach to AI and copyright laws may continue to cause situations where AI firms train their models abroad to avoid copyright claims [1][2][3].

Beijing's AI labs, on the other hand, are pouring data into models and building tools that are beginning to outperform those built in the West, unburdened by licensing and unchallenged by AI companies outside the United States [1][2][3].

The path forward for the UK, according to Trump's statement, is to "let AI train" in order to counter China's growing AI innovation efforts. Intellectual property (IP) laws are a key component of the U.S. AI Action Plan, aiming to maintain global leadership in AI and build a global alliance against China's rising AI innovation [1][2][3].

The White House Gallery currently displays an image related to the AI topic, reflecting the U.S.'s commitment to this field. Getty Images dropped its main copyright claim against Stability AI due to the fact that most of its training takes place abroad [1][2][3].

As the UK government continues to decide the fate of AI and copyright laws, the stakes are high. The aim for the West should be to ensure Western-built AI models to maintain its technological edge and protect creative industries from potential copyright infringements.

  1. The UK government's current discussions on AI, through expert working groups, aim to balance AI advancements and copyright protections for the creative industries.
  2. Trump's U.S. AI Action Plan advocated for minimal copyright restrictions on AI training data to boost AI development.
  3. The UK's delay in adopting AI regulation legislation, the "UK AI Bill," may cause AI companies to look for more reasonable rules for AI development in other locales.
  4. Some AI firms in the UK, like Stability AI, are already training their models abroad to avoid potential copyright claims.
  5. In contrast to the UK, Beijing's AI labs are unburdened by licensing restrictions, allowing them to build tools that outperform Western-built AI models.

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