Liz Truss has called on Rishi Sunak to withdraw his invitation for China to attend next week’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) summit.
The former prime minister said she was “deeply disturbed” to find out that the UK had asked the Chinese government to send representatives to the event.
In a strongly-worded letter to her successor, Truss said China “has used and abused technology to aid its oppression of millions and attacks on freedom and democracy”.
She said: “The regime in Beijing has a fundamentally different attitude to the West about AI, seeing it as a means of state control and a tool for national security.”
The former PM went on: “No reasonable person expects China to abide by anything agreed at this kind of summit, given their cavalier attitude to international law.
“I am therefore requesting that you reconsider the invitation you have extended to China to next week’s summit.”
Deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden confirmed this morning that China had been invited to the summit, but didn’t know whether they would be sending anyone.
In a speech this morning, Sunak warned that humanity could “lose control” of AI, but insisted people should not “lose sleep” over it.