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Microsoft President Brad Smith argued that AI needs stronger safeguards, telling ITV News: “Right now, AI is less regulated than your washing machine, it is less regulated than a carton of milk.” ITV published the interview report on 8 October 2026. The comparison is Smith’s characterization of regulatory urgency—not a measured finding that AI is unregulated everywhere or that food and AI laws have been legally compared.

What Smith meant by the comparison

In its interview report, ITV says Smith called for governments to act before AI risks become harder to manage. The image of a washing machine and a milk carton makes his point memorable, but it does not establish how the legal requirements for those products compare with requirements for AI. The report attributes the words to Smith; it does not provide a complete interview transcript.

ITV reports that Smith advocated international cooperation and safeguards. He also called for incident disclosure when AI agents go rogue or users are hacked, independent safety evaluations before model launches, mechanisms to switch AI systems off, government authority to order systems offline, and liability when negligence by a company results in catastrophic harm. These are policy positions attributed to Smith, not a list of rules currently in force. ITV News’ interview report describes his remarks.

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What AI regulation looks like in the EU and UK

European Union: a risk-based law with phased obligations

The EU has adopted the AI Act, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689. The European Commission describes it as a risk-based legal framework that distinguishes prohibited practices, high-risk applications, transparency obligations, and minimal- or no-risk systems. Its overview says the Act became applicable on 2 August 2026, subject to exceptions and staged implementation. The Commission lists 2 December 2027 for specified high-risk use cases and 2 August 2028 for high-risk AI embedded in regulated products. Those dates reflect the 2026 simplification changes; consult the Commission’s live timeline for the current schedule.

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That framework shows why “AI” cannot be treated as one uniformly regulated category: obligations depend on the system’s use and risk classification. The Commission’s AI Act overview and implementation timeline sets out the framework and dates.

United Kingdom: a 2023 policy paper is not a current legal inventory

The UK government’s white paper, A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation, describes AI as operating within existing laws and regulators’ remits, and proposes a context-sensitive framework of principles. The paper, updated on 3 August 2023, said the government did not initially intend to introduce new legislation. It is a dated policy document, so it should not be treated by itself as a complete account of UK legal requirements in October 2026. The government’s white paper explains that earlier approach.

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What the headline does—and does not—establish

  • It establishes an attributed opinion: ITV reports that Smith made the comparison in an interview published on 8 October 2026.
  • It does not establish a universal legal fact: the quote is not a technical metric, and the available material does not quantify the breadth or intensity of milk regulation against AI regulation.
  • It does not make Smith’s proposals current law: disclosure, independent evaluations, shutdown controls, government intervention, and negligence liability are recommendations he expressed.
  • Rules depend on place and use: the EU has a risk-based AI Act with staged dates, while the cited UK source is a 2023 policy paper rather than a verified current legal inventory.

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