Burnham Seeks Common Ground With Trump as UK and US Push AI and Undersea Autonomy

Prime Minister Andy Burnham expects to find “common ground” with US President Donald Trump at their first face-to-face meeting in New York, as Britain pairs high diplomacy at the United Nations with a concrete show of UK-US defence technology.

The two leaders are in New York for the UN General Assembly. Burnham, who became prime minister in July, has spoken to Trump by phone twice. Downing Street has described those calls as establishing a “productive relationship”. Speaking to reporters on the flight to the United States, Burnham said: “We’ve found a connection. So, I will go with where I feel it’s right, to meet him where he is at, and search for that common ground, which I’m sure we’ll find.” He added that the UK-US relationship is “as strong as it’s ever been”.

AI at the UN and a new partnership

Burnham is travelling with his wife, Marie-France Van Heel, for a day of diplomacy and a speech to the General Assembly expected to focus on the opportunities and dangers of artificial intelligence. He said he would make the case for closer international cooperation on AI, a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, and renewed efforts to end the conflict in the Middle East, arguing that “what happens abroad impacts each and every one of us at home”.

Alongside the speech, Downing Street said Britain will announce the start of work on a new AI and Autonomy partnership with the United States. The partnership is intended to help protect critical national infrastructure, from sea lanes to airspace, using AI technology.

That pitch is already meeting domestic pushback. Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey is expected to criticise the plan at his party’s conference, arguing it “doesn’t come close to meeting the scale of the threat” and “only risks making us more dependent on a Trump administration in the pocket of the tech bros”. Davey is also calling for a global pause on superintelligent AI and a new International AI Safety Agency.

Excalibur and the first uncrewed torpedo shot

In the run-up to the meeting, the UK government disclosed that Britain and the United States have, for the first time, fired a torpedo from an uncrewed underwater vessel rather than a crewed submarine. The live firing took place in UK waters last week under the AUKUS framework with Australia.

According to London, a heavyweight torpedo jointly developed by the US and Australia, designed to sink ships and deep-diving submarines, was launched from Excalibur, a 12-metre British-built undersea drone made in Plymouth. Officials framed the test as a breakthrough for protecting vital undersea infrastructure such as deep-sea data cables, and as a step forward for Euro-Atlantic security and NATO’s undersea advantage.

Sidharth Kaushal, a senior research fellow at the RUSI think-tank, told AFP the development was “noteworthy”, adding that “the employment of a lethal payload illustrates that uncrewed systems can play roles which extend beyond surveillance”.

Burnham said: “Our work together already shows what can be achieved when our two countries combine our expertise and innovation.”

Chagos and Diego Garcia still unresolved

Burnham was also pressed on the paused plan to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius and lease back the joint US-UK base on Diego Garcia. The deal was put on indefinite hold in April after Trump withdrew support. After speaking to Mauritian prime minister Navin Ramgoolam on Monday, Burnham said Britain remains “determined to secure the long-term operation of the base, which is crucial to our security and that of our allies”, and that he had committed to working towards a resolution even though one does not yet exist.

Britain will also host the G20 summit in Manchester in November 2027, Burnham confirmed.

For a new prime minister, the first public encounter with an American president is always high stakes. This week that encounter arrives wrapped in AI policy, alliance politics, and a literal undersea demonstration of what “autonomy” can mean when the payload is live.

Reporting based on BBC News, France 24 with AFP, and UK government statements, 22 September 2026.