People on AI
← Back to everyone

Leaders of other countries

Rishi Sunak

former prime minister of the United Kingdom

2 records

Records

Get this wrong, and AI could make it easier to build chemical or biological weapons. Terrorist groups could use AI to spread fear and destruction on an even greater scale. Criminals could exploit AI for cyber-attacks, disinformation, fraud, or even child sexual abuse.

Rishi Sunak

former prime minister of the United Kingdom

In an October 2023 speech at the Royal Society, Rishi Sunak said AI could make chemical or biological weapons easier to build, allow terrorist groups to cause greater harm, and be exploited by criminals for cyberattacks, disinformation, fraud, and child sexual abuse.

Prime Minister of the United KingdomOctober 26, 2023The Royal Society

SourceArchived
Context and checks

Surrounding words

That’s why today, for the first time, we’ve taken the highly unusual step… …of publishing our analysis on the risks of AI… …including an assessment by the UK intelligence communities. These reports provide a stark warning. Get this wrong, and AI could make it easier to build chemical or biological weapons. Terrorist groups could use AI to spread fear and destruction on an even greater scale. Criminals could exploit AI for cyber-attacks, disinformation, fraud, or even child sexual abuse. nd in the most unlikely but extreme cases, there is even the risk that humanity could lose control of AI completely… …through the kind of AI sometimes referred to as ‘super intelligence’.

What this quote does not say

  • This lead is narrower than the speech's loss-of-control and extinction discussion because those passages contain transcript ellipses or quote another statement.
  • Immediately after this passage, Sunak called loss of control an extreme and most unlikely case, said people need not lose sleep over it at that time, and noted that some experts thought it would never happen; those qualifications concern the separate loss-of-control discussion, not the concrete misuse pathways quoted here.

How this was checked

  • Quote located in the captured page; spacing normalised for display.

Reviewed by

an AI reviewer that read the whole source · an automatic character-by-character check

A transformation of our public services is essential. Government must help people develop the skills they need to benefit from this technology. Without that, there is a danger we get drawn into a vicious cycle: AI leads to job losses that trigger a backlash and more regulation, which in turn results in us becoming less competitive and poorer as a nation.

Rishi Sunak

former prime minister of the United Kingdom

In a July 2026 LinkedIn post, Rishi Sunak said AI job losses could provoke a backlash and more regulation, making Britain less competitive and poorer, and called for government to help people develop skills for AI.

Former Prime Minister of the United KingdomPublished July 12, 2026 · date of remarks not establishedRishi Sunak's official LinkedIn account

Source
Context and checks

Surrounding words

What I see at Microsoft and Anthropic convinces me that the pace and scale of what’s coming will dwarf the industrial revolution. How countries adapt will decide who succeeds and who doesn’t. A transformation of our public services is essential. Government must help people develop the skills they need to benefit from this technology. Without that, there is a danger we get drawn into a vicious cycle: AI leads to job losses that trigger a backlash and more regulation, which in turn results in us becoming less competitive and poorer as a nation. Burnham may want to be the devolution PM, but the world will have other ideas. How he handles these geopolitical and technological shifts will determine his and our success.

What this quote does not say

  • The linked Sunday Times column was not opened and is not used as evidence.

How this was checked

  • Quote located in the captured page; spacing normalised for display.

Reviewed by

an AI reviewer that read the whole source · an automatic character-by-character check