Is Rishi Sunak mulling over partially banning Chinese officials from AI summit in November?

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is mulling over banning Chinese officials from half of his global artificial intelligence (AI) safety summit, which is scheduled to be held in November at Bletchley Park, The Guardian reported citing sources. The report suggested that the decision may come amid growing concern over claims of spying by Beijing on Western governments.

The United Kingdom has already jotted down its objectives for its AI safety summit, which focuses on understanding the risks posed by the frontier technology and how national and international frameworks could be supported.

The report mentioned that an invitation for the summit has been sent to China by Downing Street. But sources have said that China may not be allowed to attend the first day of the two-day summit amid concerns over their espionage activities.

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Recently, a report emerged that two men have been arrested under the Official Secrets Act amid reports that a parliamentary researcher spied for China. The researcher has been arrested on suspicion of spying for China.

Sunak had expressed concerns about Chinese interference with a senior official from China, but The Guardian report hasn't mentioned whether or not the AI summit ban is because of the arrest.

French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen are among the dignitaries who are scheduled to attend the event, the report said, further adding that the United States President Joe Biden will not attend and will be represented by Vice-President Kamala Harris.

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As quoted by the newspaper, one person with knowledge of the plans said: "We always knew Biden was unlikely to attend, but the question Downing Street now has to decide is what to do about the Chinese."

A government spokesperson said: "The UK will host the first major global summit on AI safety this November, bringing together key countries, as well as leading companies and researchers, and civil society, to drive targeted, rapid international action on the safe and responsible development of the technology."

"As is routine for summits of this nature, we won't speculate on potential invitees," the spokesperson added.

The summit will be held on November 1-2. It aims to bring together tech executives, academics and political leaders as nations and international governing bodies seek to implement tools and agree to laws that regulate the use of the technology.

It will focus "on risks created or significantly exacerbated by the most powerful AI systems," the government said.

(With inputs from agencies)

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