The Prime Minister told the United Nations that AI safety should be governed by democratically-elected governments rather than left to chance, calling for global principles and standards on frontier AI development. His speech, which positioned the UK as an "honest broker" capable of building international consensus, directly contradicted US President Donald Trump's remarks just hours earlier, in which he rejected any restrictions on what he termed "super intelligence".

The UK intends to leverage its G20 presidency to push for international agreement on AI governance, arguing it uniquely bridges relationships with the US, EU, China, India, Brazil and other powers. Mr Burnham acknowledged AI's potential in healthcare, education and defence, but warned of job disruption and heeded industry warnings about existential risks; however, he faced criticism for not joining a Norway and Finland-led initiative already backed by more than 20 countries, including Germany, Canada and Ireland.