Burnham and Trump strike UK-US defence AI deal

The UK's Defence Rapid AI Delivery Taskforce will link with the US Department of War's Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office under a defence AI pact unveiled by Andy Burnham in New York, focused on deploying "trusted, interoperable" AI and autonomous systems to strengthen deterrence and protect critical infrastructure including airspace and vital sea lanes. The agreement follows the Ministry of Defence's £100m launch of the Rapid AI Delivery Taskforce and comes as Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey calls for an international treaty to "press pause on super-intelligent AI," arguing the deal risks deepening Britain's dependence on the Trump administration. Burnham is due to champion the deal at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday and meet president Donald Trump for the first time, with Britain expected to push for wider international action on AI when it hosts the G20 in Manchester next year.

Burnham and Trump strike UK-US defence AI deal Britain will link its military AI taskforce with its US counterpart under a new defence pact, deepening transatlantic tech ties as AI plays a growing role on the battlefield. The UK’s Defence Rapid AI Delivery Taskforce https://www.gov.uk/guidance/rapid-ai-delivery-taskforce-tf-raid will work with the US Department of War’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office to accelerate the deployment of “trusted, interoperable” AI and autonomous systems. The partnership, unveiled by Andy Burnham in New York, will focus on strengthening deterrence and protecting critical infrastructure, including airspace and vital sea lanes. It pushes UK-US cooperation beyond AI research and safety towards deploying the technology in defence, while raising questions over Britain’s reliance on American technology for increasingly sensitive capabilities. Burnham will champion the deal at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, where he is also due to meet president Donald Trump for the first time. “Our new defence partnership with the United States on AI and autonomy will bring 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”, Burnham is expected to say. The agreement comes months after the Ministry of Defence MoD launched its £100m Rapid AI Delivery Taskforce to speed up the use of AI across the armed forces, including for intelligence and autonomous systems. Transatlantic ties deepen The pact lands amid a growing debate over Britain’s dependence on US tech https://www.cityam.com/gov-uk-founder-warns-britain-is-dangerously-dependent-on-foreign-ai/ as AI becomes more important to national security. American companies dominate frontier AI, while Britain has sought to build greater technological sovereignty through its AI Security Institute, domestic computing infrastructure and homegrown AI companies. The dilemma is particularly acute in defence, where Britain is seeking greater control over critical technology while maintaining interoperability with its most important military ally. The partnership follows another milestone in autonomous warfare after Britain and the US last week carried out the first firing of a heavyweight torpedo from an uncrewed underwater vessel. It comes as the government pours billions into autonomous military systems spanning air, land and sea. The announcement also coincides with an increasingly heated row over the pace of AI development. Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has called https://www.cityam.com/davey-calls-for-ai-pause-as-burnham-inks-us-uk-tech-deal/ for an international treaty to “press pause on super-intelligent AI”, arguing Burnham’s US agreement risks making Britain more dependent on the Trump administration. His speech follows warnings from figures within the AI industry over increasingly powerful systems, while Anthropic’s refusal to provide its latest model to the UK AI Security Institute has exposed limits to Britain’s voluntary testing regime. Burnham will strike a different note in New York, arguing international cooperation can make AI a “force for good” and help create a “more stable and secure” world. The government is expected to push for wider international action on AI when Britain hosts the G20 in Manchester next year. But the first test will come closer to home: whether Britain’s new defence AI taskforce and its US counterpart can turn the latest transatlantic agreement into technology that can actually be deployed.