The politics of artificial intelligence is set to drastically change in 2026 as recent technical breakthroughs get implemented across the economy.
The public are understandably worried about AI and, so far, governments have struggled to articulate a clear vision for what it would mean for AI to go well.
Governments must stand ready to both protect people from the risks of AI and deliberately steer this transformation towards public value. But policy has, so far, been too timid to do so.
In this report we draw reflections from IPPR's work so far on AI policy, and highlight next steps, with recommendations for European governments seeking to demonstrate that they are intervening ambitiously in their citizens’ interests. We also introduce a how-to guide for directing AI to public value, identifying priority policies for the near term.
