Andy Burnham in Downing Street on 20 July 2026, the day he took office as UK prime minister. Credit: repic / Shutterstock.com Britain will try to broker a worldwide deal on AI during its upcoming turn at the head of the G20, Prime Minister Andy Burnham told reporters on the eve of the UN General Assembly in New York, Politico Europe reported. Britain was “uniquely positioned to play a leadership role on AI,” he said, pointing to its relationships with the EU, the US, and China. Then, he added that the country’s own expertise, including that of the AI Security Institute, could enable it to act as an “honest broker”.
Politico described it as the most significant statement yet from Burnham on how his government intends to handle the risks of AI. Global AI governance has climbed up the diplomatic agenda after a series of stark warnings about where the technology is heading. Burnham stated that warnings from people knowledgeable about AI had made him think again, and added that he did not want to become what he termed a “doom-monger” about AI, committing instead to finding a middle ground between the benefits and dangers of the technology. The message which he intends to take to Donald Trump is that Britain plans to pursue a measured approach to AI.
The meeting between the two is scheduled for Tuesday, marking their first meeting since Burnham became prime minister, and Burnham has said he will reassure the US president of Britain’s intention to take a measured approach to AI. As Burnham pointed out, Trump has acknowledged some of the risks associated with AI, even though the president has called warnings about the technology being existential a “HOAX”. Kanishka Narayan, who is the UK’s minister for artificial intelligence, is accompanying Burnham, and Downing Street has stated that artificial intelligence will play a dominant role in the prime minister’s diplomatic meetings in New York. Andy Burnham, the British Prime Minister, is due to give a speech to the General Assembly on Tuesday evening, in which he will ask countries to work together on the use of AI for good and has promised that the UK will take the lead on this issue. “I think we can really do something in this space [that is] very significant,” he told reporters.
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