LONDON — Foreign Secretary James Cleverly confirmed the British government has invited China to its November summit on artificial intelligence.
In a press release Tuesday, Cleverly said: “We cannot keep the U.K. public safe from the risks of AI if we exclude one of the leading nations in AI tech. That’s why China has been invited to our AI Safety Summit in November.”
“The U.K.’s approach to China is to protect our institutions and infrastructure, align with partners and engage where it is in the U.K.’s national interest.”
It’s the first time a senior member of Rishi Sunak’s government has confirmed the invite, first reported by POLITICO in late August. U.K. government officials did however previously confirm the China invite to reporters at a background briefing in Washington two weeks ago.
The invite to Beijing has ruffled feathers, especially among the U.K.’s allies in the G7. Japan has voiced particular opposition to Chinese involvement, believing it to be too soon to involve the country in the summit when democratic nations are yet to figure out a common position on AI governance.
It is not yet clear whether China will be involved in central events or be present more on the sidelines of the AI safety summit, which is due to focus on the national security threats posed by artificial intelligence.
It’s the focus on national security threats that’s convinced the Rishi Sunak government of the need to invite China. It sees the issue as being akin to climate change: the threat of advanced AI falling into non-state actor hands requires global cooperation from all nations.
