Trust us with AI, say the big tech titans. That’s what the banks said before the 2008 crisis | Larry Elliott

Politicians at Rishi Sunak's AI safety summit must understand that regulation is the key to avoiding disaster

When the great and the good of Silicon Valley pitched up in Buckinghamshire for Rishi Sunak's AI safety summit, they came with a simple message: trust us with this new technology. Don't be tempted to stifle innovation by heavy-handed rules and restrictions. Self-regulation works just fine.

To which the simple response should be: remember 2008, when light-touch supervision allowed banks to indulge in an orgy of speculation that took the global financial system to the brink of collapse.

Larry Elliott is the Guardian's economics editor