UK aiming to lead on new global AI standards, Burnham tells UN

The UK is aiming to lead the efforts to establish global safety standards for artificial intelligence, Andy Burnham has told the United Nations General Assembly.

During his first major international speech at the UN in New York City, he said the UK will set up a new centre to "stem the poisonous tide" of disinformation.  

The prime minister said Russia was propagating misinformation and warned the general assembly that the agencies linked to the country are using "every means at their disposal", including bots and fake websites, to "spread lies and disinformation".

Burnham pitched the UK as an "honest broker" on AI, warning that existing threats will "multiply" as a result of the growing technology.  

Earlier this month, safety researcher at the AI company Anthropic, Evan Hubinger, warned the technology is advancing so quickly that there’s a chance it could “kill all humans” in the next decade. Last month, AI minister Kanishka Narayan said “people are right to worry” about the impact of technology on jobs.

Accusing the Kremlin of running a disinformation campaign, the prime minister said: "The Kremlin spends around £1.3bn each year on manipulating information.

"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."

The new centre to combat disinformation – The National Centre for Information Defence – will work to detect and stop AI-assisted disinformation campaigns propagated by hostile nations.