Burnham announces AI defence partnership with US in debut UN speech

Andy Burnham used his debut address to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday to announce a new AI defence partnership with the United States, positioning Britain as a leading broker on artificial intelligence safety.

Taking the podium in New York just before 8pm local time, the prime minister said: “I am announcing today that we are developing a new AI defense partnership with the United States to protect our critical national infrastructure.”

Britain’s Defence Rapid AI Delivery Taskforce and the US Department of War Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office will work together to speed “the delivery of trusted, interoperable capabilities that enhance deterrence”, protecting critical national infrastructure from sea lanes to air space, according to Reuters.

“I know how worried people are, so we have to rise to this moment,” Burnham said. “Fundamental decisions on this technology are too important to be left to chance. They must be taken by elected governments who serve working people.”

He said Britain would use its 2027 G20 presidency to push for “a single set of global principles and standards” on AI safety, adding: “We will work towards agreeing a single set of global principles and standards to ensure the transparency and access we need to increase our preparedness and to ensure that AI development is safe.”

The prime minister also accused Russia of attempting to interfere in the 2019 general election, saying Moscow “used every means at their disposal to spread lies and disinformation and prey on people’s fears” — deploying bots and fake websites, falsifying newspaper articles, forging the branding of 28 British organisations including universities and the BBC, and amplifying far-right narratives. Russia has rejected the allegations.

“Today I am tasking our security chiefs to begin work on a new National Centre for Information Defence to detect, attribute and disrupt these kinds of hostile-state information attacks to support and defend our democracy,” he said.

The speech came hours after his first in-person meeting with Donald Trump, who called him “a natural businessperson”, and as Trump told the assembly the US would rename artificial intelligence “super intelligence” in official communications.