As global artificial intelligence (AI) development continues at breakneck speed, Prime Minister Andy Burnham has outlined a vision for the UK to act as an “honest broker” in a fractured world during his address at the United Nations General Assembly – focusing on the regulation of frontier AI.

Acknowledging the disruption that AI could bring to the way we live and work, Burnham announced that AI will sit at the heart of the UK’s G20 Presidency next year.

“Fundamental decisions on this technology are too important to be left to chance,” Burnham told world leaders. “They must be taken by elected governments who serve working people.”

Crucially, this strategy relies on global collaboration. He highlighted the UK’s commitment to working not only with traditional allies, but also “with China and emerging powers like India and Brazil”.

“In a divided world, we have the ability to bring people together – and we will,” he said, committing to “work towards agreeing a single set of global principles and standards” to ensure AI is developed safely and transparently.

The UK’s push to bring China to the regulatory table is not only a show of diplomacy, but an acknowledgement the latter’s ascent as an AI superpower. Recent interim results from the Baillie Gifford China Growth Trust plc show why any global framework for AI must include Beijing.

According to the trust’s chair, Nicholas Pink, China’s technological leap is fundamentally reshaping global investment strategies.

“In the past year China has emerged as a global leader in AI, producing leading AI models,” he noted in his statement. “This has spurred cost‑effective AI diffusion into the wider economy and initiated a capex uplift in related industries to meet domestic and global demand.”

In response to this shifting landscape, the Baillie Gifford fund has diversified its portfolio to capture this growth. Pink highlighted that the trust “has substantial exposure to key areas of China’s growth such as AI, advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, internet platforms, selected consumer services and the energy transition,” with recent additions specifically targeting the AI supply chain.

The trust’s successful performance has been partly driven by investments in unlisted tech giants like ByteDance, reflecting the commercial viability of Chinese technological innovation.

While Burnham and other world leaders are moving to construct a protective global architecture for frontier AI – warning that “ultimately we will do whatever is necessary to protect” the public “including bringing forward new laws if that is what is needed” – global investors are benefiting from the expanding AI supply.

As China cements its status as an AI leader, the success of both international frameworks and global investment portfolios will increasingly depend on how effectively they engage with Beijing.