UK PRIME MINISTER Andy Burnham has told the United Nations (UN) General Assembly that he wants the UK to lead the world in developing a set of rules to prevent the spread of rogue artificial intelligence (AI).

His speech came hours after US President Donald Trump told the same event that he would resist attempts to rein in what he called “super intelligence”.

Trump also reiterated his recent remarks dismissing AI concerns as a “hoax”.

He called for AI to be renamed super intelligence, claiming that “the use of the word ‘artificial’ makes intelligence fake. It makes it sound fake, and it is not fake”. 

“Welcome to the new world of super intelligence – SI,” said Trump. He added: “Every major new technology brings challenges, and superintelligence is no exception.”

PM Andy Burnham has 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. Read more: https://t.co/upxnRSVSRG pic.twitter.com/2OQWL477wi

— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) September 23, 2026

Meanwhile, Burnham told world leaders that AI has immense potential in healthcare, economic growth, transforming education and in defence.

But he acknowledged AI would be a source of disruption to jobs and said warnings from industry insiders about the technology’s potential to pose an existential risk to humanity must be heeded.

“I know how worried people are. So we have to rise to this moment,” he said.

He said he wants the UK to act as an “honest broker” to draw up “a single set of global principles and standards” for the development of frontier AI, adding that the UK would use its presidency of the G20 group of advanced economies to push for international agreement on the issue.

“We will work towards agreeing a single set of global principles and standards to ensure the transparency and access we need to increase our preparedness and to ensure that AI development is safe,” he said.

He claimed the UK is uniquely placed to push for international agreement: “We are America’s closest ally. We have deep ties with our friends in the EU and will deepen them further,” he said.

AI has become a major topic at the UN General Assembly after incidents of the technology falling out of the control of humans and warnings by company insiders drew global alarm and calls for better government supervision of the industry.

Ahead of the UN assembly, leaders of more than 20 mostly European countries urged binding safety measures for advanced AI, warning that the technology’s development could outpace the ability to control it.

AI superpowers China and the United States did not endorse the idea.

The US-based AI giants themselves are increasingly asking for global coordination on AI safety, with OpenAI’s Sam Altman set to address the UN Security Council on Wednesday.

With additional reporting from wire services.