Ethics & Innovation: The Social Media Ban, Sovereign AI, and the Race We Can't Stop

Can democracies capture the economic benefits of AI while protecting citizens from the unintended consequences? In this episode of Ethics and Innovation by Oxford+ brought to you by Equinox, host Susannah de Jager speaks with Lord Lionel Tarassenko, founding President of Reuben College and a pioneer of machine learning in safety-critical systems, about why the race to build ever more powerful models increasingly resembles an arms race. They explore whether the UK's long focus on ethical AI has become a competitive advantage, how Britain should position itself between the United States, Europe and China, and why sovereign AI and sovereign data assets matter for defending national values. The conversation lands at a pivotal moment. Days after the UK government announced a ban on social media use by under-16s modelled on Australia's, Lionel explains why he changed his mind and now sees a ban as the only real leverage over platforms that have resisted safety by design for a decade. From AI literacy in schools to the case for putting the AI Security Institute on a statutory footing, this is a clear-eyed look at governing a technology moving faster than policy. **Lord Lionel Tarassenko:** Lionel Tarassenko, Baron Tarassenko CBE FREng FMedSci, is the founding President of Reuben College, Oxford, Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Research Professor of Engineering Science at the University of Oxford. A world-leading expert in the application of signal processing and machine learning to healthcare, he was among the first to apply machine learning to real-world, safety-critical systems, from Rolls-Royce jet-engine health monitoring to NHS patient monitoring. The critical-care system he designed was the first machine learning system to gain FDA approval, in 2008. He founded four University spin-out companies, directed the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, and edited the 2019 Topol Review of NHS technology and the workforce. He was appointed a non-party-political life peer in 2024 and sits on the crossbenches, where he speaks on AI, healthcare and digital policy. Connect with Lionel on LinkedIn **Susannah de Jager:** Susannah is a seasoned professional with over 15 years of experience in UK asset management. She has worked closely with industry experts, entrepreneurs, and government officials to shape the conversation around domestic scale-up capital. Connect with Susannah on LinkedIn and Subscribe to the Oxford+ Newsletter for Exclusive Content Oxford+ is hosted by Susannah de Jager and supported by Equinox Produced and Edited by Story Ninety-Four in Oxford.