Britain to Lead Global AI Safety Drive and Counter Kremlin Disinformation, Burnham Pledges at UN

Britain will establish a new centre to "stem the poisonous tide" of disinformation, including from Russia, and lead efforts to set global safety standards for artificial intelligence, Prime Minister Andy Burnham has told the United Nations General Assembly. In his first major international speech in New York, Burnham warned that Russian agencies are using "every means at their disposal", including bots and fake websites, to "spread lies and disinformation". He noted that AI will "multiply" existing threats and pitched Britain as an "honest broker" on the technology.

Fears about AI have grown after industry insiders recently warned it could threaten humanity. Burnham accused Russia of running a disinformation campaign. "The Kremlin spends around £1.3bn each year on manipulating information," he told the assembly. "They've used bots and fake websites, falsified newspaper articles, forged the branding of 28 British organisations, including universities and the BBC. We're talking about an insidious campaign that reaches into people's homes and twists what they feel about their own country and community – creating a narrative of decline, stoking division and sowing despair. On top of that we have seen cyber-attacks on our companies and institutions. And we know that AI will multiply the threat." He also referenced the 2019 UK general election, in which the government previously said Russia almost certainly sought to interfere.

To counter this, Burnham announced a new National Centre for Information Defence to detect and disrupt AI-enabled disinformation campaigns by hostile states. The centre will work alongside intelligence agencies, government departments, law enforcement and social media to bring together expertise to combat "information warfare". There was no immediate comment from Russia, a representative of which was sitting in the room listening to Burnham. When the UK government published a report in 2020 about Russian activity in Britain, including in elections, Moscow described the allegations as "Russophobia". Addressing a forum about disinformation in Moscow on Tuesday, before the prime minister's speech, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Western media of embracing "anti-Russian cliches and fantasies".

Before becoming prime minister, Burnham had said relatively little about how AI should be regulated. Since taking power in July, his government has stressed the need for international cooperation to combat the risks and harness the potential benefits of the technology, warning that further regulation and legislation may be needed. In his speech, Burnham described the most advanced "Frontier AI" as "one of the most significant challenges and opportunities of our age". He told world leaders AI would be "key to economic growth" but also a "multiplier of risk". The prime minister added: "We've all heard the warnings – which we must heed. I know how worried people are. So we have to rise to this moment."

Burnham said Britain "has a unique position as an honest broker", with close ties to the United States and the European Union. He highlighted the UK's "world-leading" AI Security Institute, established under Conservative prime minister Rishi Sunak, which tests major AI models to improve their safety before public release. He pledged to put AI "at the heart of the UK's G20 Presidency next year", when leaders of the world's biggest economies will gather in Manchester. Burnham said Britain would work towards agreeing a set of global principles and standards to ensure transparency, access to AI models, and that development happens safely. He added that this would "bring together welcome initiatives from others", such as a proposal from Norway this week.

The declaration, which has the support of more than 20 countries including Germany, Canada and Ireland, calls for AI to remain under human control and for mandatory pre-release testing of frontier models. However, it has not been signed by the United States and China, which dominate AI development, or by Britain. Former cabinet minister Darren Jones, who served as chief secretary to Burnham's predecessor Sir Keir Starmer, called on the prime minister to sign the declaration and offer to broker an agreement with the US on its implementation. He argued there "should be a landing zone to agree mandatory testing", without undermining competitive advantage between companies and nations.

The UK AI Security Institute's testing of models is currently voluntary, and the AI company Anthropic reportedly refused to submit its latest model for testing. Downing Street said officials had made clear in recent discussions with AI leaders that the government expects "full and total visibility of model developments". The prime minister has acknowledged that while developers have made significant commitments on transparency, nothing is off the table to keep the public safe, including legislation. Meanwhile, the government has announced a new AI and Autonomy partnership between Britain and the United States, focused on protecting critical national infrastructure using AI technology.

The Liberal Democrats and the Green Party have been pressing the government to take further action on AI safety. However, any international effort to regulate AI would require the cooperation of the United States and China. In his own address earlier, US President Donald Trump rejected "any attempt to construct a globalist scheme" to control AI. "We're going to encourage it, not rein it in," he told the General Assembly. Trump has previously dismissed warnings of AI destroying humanity as "a hoax". Burnham and Trump met in person for the first time on Tuesday, although Downing Street's statement on the meeting did not mention that they discussed AI.