AI Regulation in the UK: A Legal Perspective on a Rapidly Evolving Landscape

UK legal landscape for AI is evolving to balance innovation and regulation

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to transform industries and redefine how we interact with technology, the legal framework surrounding its development and use is struggling to keep pace. In the UK, the regulatory response has been cautious but deliberate, aiming to strike a balance between fostering innovation and protecting rights.

This blog explores the current legal landscape, the UK’s regulatory strategy, and the implications for businesses and rights holders.

The promise and peril of AI

AI systems – tools that simulate human behaviour to perform tasks like writing, designing, or analysing data – offer enormous potential. They can:

• Boost productivity by automating repetitive tasks and reducing human error.
• Drive innovation by enabling startups to develop new technologies and secure funding.
• Enhance public services in sectors like healthcare, education, and transport.

But with opportunity comes challenge.

Key concerns include:

• Governance – how do we regulate AI without stifling innovation?
• Ethics – can we trust AI systems that lack transparency and may produce biased or inaccurate outputs?
• Intellectual property (IP) and data protection – many AI models are trained on publicly available content, often without consent, which raises serious questions about ownership and fairness.

The UK’s regulatory philosophy: innovation first

The UK’s approach to AI regulation is underpinned by three guiding principles

1. Pro-innovation. The UK aims to be a global leader in AI development; regulation is seen as a tool to enable growth, not hinder it.
2. Principle-based. Rather than imposing rigid rules, the UK favours a flexible framework that allows regulators to adapt as AI evolves.
3. Wait and see. The government has opted for a measured approach, observing how AI technologies develop before introducing sweeping legislation.

This philosophy is reflected in the AI Opportunities Action Plan, published in January 2025. The strategy outlines 50 recommendations to support AI growth, including:

• Establishing AI growth zones to host large-scale data centres.
• Reforming copyright law to facilitate AI training.
• Creating a national data library to improve access to training datasets.
• Commercialising copyright-cleared content from public institutions like the BBC and British Library.

The Artificial Intelligence (Regulation) Bill

First introduced as a private members’ bill in 2023 and reintroduced in 2025 by Lord Holmes of Richmond, the Artificial Intelligence (Regulation) Bill represents the UK’s most concrete legislative proposal to date. While still in its early stages, the bill proposes a light-touch regulatory framework with the following key provisions:

• Transparency obligations for businesses using AI, including thorough testing and legal compliance.
• Appointment of an AI officer responsible for ethical and unbiased AI use.
• Establishment of an AI authority to oversee regulation and enforcement.

• Creation of regulatory sandboxes to test AI innovations in a controlled environment.
• Requirements for record-keeping on the use of third-party data and intellectual property.
• Potential for informed consent mechanisms, either opt-in or opt-out, for users affected by AI systems.

Although private members’ bills rarely become law, the reintroduction of this bill signals growing political momentum for AI regulation.

Copyright reform 

One of the most contentious legal issues in AI regulation is the use of copyrighted works for training AI models. In December 2024, the UK Government launched a public consultation on proposed reforms to the text and data mining (TDM) regime. The consultation closed in February 2025 with over 11,500 responses.

The government’s preferred option is to liberalise the TDM regime to make it more competitive, arguing that current uncertainty is “hindering innovation and undermining our broader ambitions for AI.” However, this has sparked significant backlash from the creative industries, who argue that such reforms would allow AI developers to exploit copyrighted content without consent or compensation.

Data (Use and Access) Act 2025

The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (DUAA) is a significant update to the UK’s data protection framework, primarily amending the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

The DUAA became a focal point for debates around AI training and copyright including debates on whether a transparency requirement should be provided for in the DUAA for AI developers to disclose the data used to train their models. This transparency requirement was rejected by the House of Commons on the basis that mandatory transparency requirements was not yet necessary.

The DUAA came into force on 19 June 2025 with some provisions around copyright works and artificial intelligence systems, but these provisions are limited to requiring the Secretary of State to prepare and publish:

• an economic impact assessment on the policy options of Copyright and AI Consultation Paper, as well as the government’s proposed approach, with the assessment focusing on the economic impact of each option on copyright owners, AI developers, or users of AI.
• a report on the use of copyright works in the development of AI systems.

International positioning and legislative signals

The UK’s regulatory stance is also shaped by its international positioning. Notably, the UK declined to sign the Paris Summit Declaration on Inclusive AI, citing concerns that the declaration did not adequately address national security and global governance issues.

Domestically, the 2024 King’s Speech included a commitment to introduce legislation placing requirements on developers of powerful AI models. While no specific legislation has followed, this signals the government’s intent to legislate in adjacent areas such as online safety and data protection.

What’s next?

The UK’s legal framework for AI remains in flux. While the Artificial Intelligence (Regulation) Bill and the AI Opportunities Action Plan provide a roadmap, much depends on how these proposals are implemented and whether they gain parliamentary support.

For businesses, this means staying alert to:

• Evolving compliance obligations, particularly around transparency and data use.
• Changes to IP law, especially regarding AI training datasets.
• Sector-specific regulation, as different industries may face tailored rules.

For rights holders, particularly in the creative industries, the key issue will be how copyright protections are maintained – or diluted – in the face of AI’s growing appetite for data.

How we can help

The UK is at a crossroads. It has the opportunity to lead the world in AI development, but doing so requires a legal framework that is both robust and adaptable. The challenge for lawmakers is to ensure that regulation keeps pace with innovation – without stifling it.

We’re closely monitoring these developments and advising clients across sectors on how to navigate this evolving legal landscape. If you’d like to discuss how AI regulation might impact your business, we’re here to help.