UK's Burnham to announce new AI defence partnership with US

NEW YORK, Sept 21 (Reuters) - UK Prime ‌Minister Andy Burnham ​will announce ​a new AI defence partnership between Britain and the United States on Tuesday, part of a push for nations to use the technology to better protect critical infrastructure ‌and detect threats.

At the United Nations General Assembly, Burnham will call on nations to ⁠work together to use the technology to enhance security and bring down cost-of-living pressures in a speech on Tuesday. It ‌will be his first multinational meeting ‌as prime minister, and he will meet US President Donald Trump.

He will say 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".

"When the global financial crisis hit, the UK brought together the world's leading economies. As we confront the opportunities and challenges posed by ⁠artificial intelligence, we will show that same leadership," Burnham said in a statement.

"That ambition is underlined in our new defence partnership with ​the United States on AI and autonomy, bringing together the brightest minds to strengthen the protection of critical infrastructure, deter those who threaten our security, and ​use the enormous potential of AI to our advantage."

The collaboration ‌will help Britain protect critical national infrastructure, from sea lanes to air space.

The world's third-largest artificial intelligence market behind the United States and China, Britain is ⁠seeing early signs the technology is helping to revive its stagnant economy.

Yet concerns are growing that safety efforts are lagging behind increasingly powerful systems.

Britain and the United States enjoy deep cooperation across a range of areas, from security ⁠to technology, finance and wider foreign policy, despite some public disagreements during Trump's two terms in office.

Britain has a leading ​AI Security Institute, established after it hosted the world's first AI safety summit in 2023, which tests frontier AI models and evaluates their capabilities and potential for misuse.

Anthropic, however, withheld its latest model from the institute, according to ‌reports, raising concerns that Britain's light-touch cooperative model might be insufficient to tackle the growing threats posed by AI.

Burnham, who has long spoken of finding a ‌balance between the "opportunities and challenges" of the technology, is expected to announce that Britain will drive to tackle global ⁠challenges such as AI during its hosting ‌of the G20 next year.

The ​G20 will be held in November in the city of Manchester, the centre of a region in northwestern England where Burnham was mayor.

(Reporting by Elizabeth Piper; Editing by ‌Xevi Fontdegloria)

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