US reverses course and lets AI developers give Britain early access to models for safety testing, the Telegraph reports
US reverses course on Britain's testing of AI models, Telegraph says
Context
Pre release testing by Britain's AI Security Institute is one of the few independent checks on frontier models, and the reported reversal restores it.
Britain's AI Security Institute was set up after the first AI safety summit in 2023 and tests advanced models for capabilities and risk of misuse. According to the Telegraph, the White House asked Anthropic, OpenAI and other companies last month to stop sharing models with the institute. Reuters reported that the request was pending a US review.
Deep dive
Reuters reported on October 11, citing the Telegraph, that American AI developers can give the British government early access to models for safety testing without running afoul of the Trump administration. The administration reversed a request that developers such as OpenAI and Anthropic not share new models with Britain's AI Security Institute before release, the newspaper said.
The Telegraph reported that the request came from the White House Office of the National Cyber Director, and that after it Anthropic restricted UK officials from reviewing its new Claude Mythos 5.1 model. The paper said the decision was reversed after lobbying by AI minister Kanishka Narayan, and that the institute will get pre release access to models from Anthropic, Google DeepMind and OpenAI.
Reuters said the change signals a softer stance on international AI safety efforts, noting that Trump's new AI task force said on Friday that developers must report security incidents with their models. Spokespeople for Trump, OpenAI and Anthropic did not immediately respond to Reuters.
On Monday, according to Reuters, Narayan confirmed that institute scientists are now evaluating the latest generation of models, including Google's Gemini 4 Argon, under voluntary agreements with developers.
What to expect next
Watch whether Anthropic and OpenAI confirm that pre release access has resumed, and whether the institute gets to test Claude Mythos 5.1 and the next OpenAI releases before launch.
Also watch for the details of the US review that prompted the original request, and for how the new AI task force's incident reporting rules fit alongside voluntary testing deals with allies such as Britain.