May fails to capture the imagination

Maybot does Davos

Theresa May fails to capture the imagination as she sets out her vision for Britain after Brexit.

By RYAN HEATH AND CHARLIE COOPER

At least the set didn’t collapse.

Theresa May addressed Davos Thursday, promising post-Brexit Britain would be at the forefront of the tech revolution. Her audience was unconvinced — the applause was muted, several hundred people left before the end, and Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar began his press conference before the British prime minister had finished.

“I went last year and it was a disaster,” said a German CEO who requested anonymity. “I thought it couldn’t be that bad again, but, well, it was at least shorter than last year.”

Avoiding any detailed discussion of the U.K.’s departure from the EU in her World Economic Forum address, the British prime minister said the world has “only just seen the beginning of what AI [artificial intelligence] can achieve” and pledged to put her country at the forefront.

“Imagine a world in which self-driving cars radically reduce the number of deaths on our roads. Imagine a world where remote monitoring and inspection of critical infrastructure makes dangerous jobs safer,” she urged the unenthusiastic crowd, doing little to shake off her “Maybot” nickname.

“[The speech] was literally artificial intelligence,” said an official from an EU country.

The address was a rare opportunity for May to communicate her vision for Britain after Brexit to a room packed full of the global elite. Her failure to connect with this audience — particularly following an effective double act from Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron the previous day and ahead of the much anticipated Donald Trump show Friday — will do little to relieve the domestic pressure on her, which has ratcheted up within her Conservative Party amid disquiet about her timidity.

Brexit was notable for its absence. EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier told POLITICO he had been at another session and hadn’t manage to catch May’s speech.

But the uncertainty over what kind of data-sharing deal Britain will be able to strike with the European Union, without which companies and researchers could be deprived of data on which they depend, remained unresolved. There is also a question mark over how easy it will be for tech companies to recruit highly skilled workers from the EU, which also depends on progress in Brexit talks.

“We are absolutely determined to make our country the place to come and set up to seize the opportunities of artificial intelligence for the future,” said May.

May also used her speech to urge shareholders to put more pressure on tech companies to behave responsibly and prevent terrorists, extremists and child abusers from using their online platforms.

“No one wants to be known as ‘the terrorists’ platform’ or the first choice app for pedophiles,” she said.

“As governments, it is also right that we look at the legal liability that social media companies have for the content shared on their sites.”

“The status quo is increasingly unsustainable as it becomes clear these platforms are no longer just passive hosts,” she added, noting that the U.K. is working with other governments and businesses on new legal frameworks for online platforms.