Burnham is heading to New York for the United Nations general assembly
According to the overnight briefing from No 10 ahead of his speech to the UN, Andy Burnham will make AI (artificial intelligence) one of the main themes of his visit to New York. Downing Street says:
Major global challenges such as AI, the conflict in Ukraine and security in the Middle East are expected to dominate the agenda of the prime minister’s meetings in New York over the next 24 hours, as world leaders converge on the city.
The prime minister is expected to use the visit to drive forward global work on AI, both to ensure it is being used as a force for good and to maximise opportunities to use the technology to deliver safety and security for people at home.
This Finnish initiative – pushing compulsory testing of Frontier AI models before release – has the backing of the leaders of Australia, Canada, Germany, the EU, Bahrain and Singapore. https://presidentti.fi/en/a-call-for-control-of-frontier-ai-models/ It’s dated yesterday 21/9. The UK will have been asked.
But Andy Burnham has not signed – and appears at the UN general assembly today to be taking a different - arguably weaker - path. Burnham is going to the UN arguing almost exactly the opposite impression: that Britain is uniquely placed to lead international AI governance, mediate between the US and China and make AI a centrepiece of its 2027 G20 presidency.
It’s great to see @alexstubb providing this leadership and bringing other countries together to call for pre-deployment testing.
The list of signatories to the ‘Call for Control of Frontier AI Models’ are the United Kingdom’s natural allies.
The move to host the G20 in Manchester was reportedly set up months ago after Andy Burnham became prime minister, using his first phone call with Mr Trump to invite him to the city, and which is said to have been accepted by the American President.
It is understood that planning has already started for the enormous gathering, which will require the biggest security operation the city has ever seen …
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