Police chief blames AI for banning Maccabi Tel Aviv fans in apology to MPs
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood to make a statement to MPs after receiving report on the decision
A police chief blamed the use of AI in an has an apology to MPs for giving them an error in evidence about the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans.
West Midlands Police has faced questions over its handling of the decision to ban supporters of the Israeli football team from attending a Europa League match against Aston Villa on 6 November.
Chief constable Craig Guildford has now written to the home affairs committee to apologise for the mistake, after he appeared twice to give evidence over the controversy.
The AI search found social media posts about a match between Maccabi and West Ham United that never happened, which was then referenced in a report to the Birmingham City Council Safety Advisory Group over whether to prevent supporters from attending the game.
Mr Guildford told the Commons home affairs committee in a letter that until Friday afternoon, he believed the mistake was caused by using Google, when in fact it was the result of Microsoft Copilot, an AI tool.
He offered his “profound apology” for the error, but added: “My belief that this was the case was honestly held and there was no intention to mislead the committee.”
