<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday announced a world-first summit on artificial intelligence, seeking a leading role for the UK in limiting potential doomsday risks as he visited Washington.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sunak will meet President Joe Biden at the White House on Thursday for talks during which he will also voice unstinting support for Ukraine, as the young Conservative leader wages an often uphill battle to show the UK's post-Brexit relevance.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Opening his two-day trip, the prime minister announced that Britain would hold the world's first summit on artificial intelligence in the second half of the year.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"AI has an incredible potential to transform our lives for the better. But we need to make sure it is developed and used in a way that is safe and secure," Sunak said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Time and time again throughout history we have invented paradigm-shifting new technologies and we have harnessed them for the good of humanity. That is what we must do again," he added.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Group of Seven called for action on AI during a summit in Japan last month.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But the United States also held talks last week on an AI code of conduct with the European Union. Sunak is pitching for a future global AI regulator to be based in London.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"The UK is well placed to play a leadership role. Outside of the US, we are probably the leading AI nation amongst democratic countries. We have an ability to get regulation right to protect our citizens," Sunak told TalkTV.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- 'Ultimate sacrifice' -</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sunak opened his two-day US visit by laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery, with soldiers firing a 19-gun salute.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"In memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice in order that we might live free. We will remember them," said a hand-written message from Sunak on the wreath.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Ukraine war is expected to dominate his conversations with Biden, with Britain joining the United States in championing robust military support to Kyiv.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The visit comes as Russia and Ukraine trade accusations over who blew up the large Kakhovka dam, triggering devastating floods.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Any intentional targeting of the dam would represent "the largest attack on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine since the start of the war, and just would demonstrate the new lows that we would have seen from Russian aggression," Sunak told reporters aboard his plane from London.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The United States and Britain have not yet identified a culprit.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But in an interview with ITV News, Sunak said that Russia has pursued a "deliberate strategy to target civilian infrastructure."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"It is wrong, it's barbaric, and it's appalling. That's why we're providing such strong support to them and will continue to do so," he said of the Ukrainians.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sunak has also been talking up British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace as a candidate to lead NATO before the Western military alliance holds a summit next month in Lithuania, with the prime ministers of Denmark and Estonia also seen as contenders.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg's term in the job is due to end in October.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Keeping hopes on business -</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A day before meeting Biden, Sunak met Washington's top Republican, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who lauded the longstanding alliance.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"When our bond is stronger, the world is safer and democracy grows," McCarthy said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Despite broad US support for Britain, Sunak has all but given up on a post-Brexit trade deal from the Biden administration, which has shown limited enthusiasm.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sunak pointed to the US-UK military alliance as he made a case for the economic relationship.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Just as interoperability between our militaries has given us a battlefield advantage over our adversaries, greater economic interoperability will give us a crucial edge in the decades ahead," said Sunak, a wealthy former banker who studied in the United States and retains a property in California.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The prime minister is pushing for US relief to UK carmakers, via greater access to critical minerals used in batteries, after Biden's Inflation Reduction Act offered vast subsidies to companies with US operations.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sunak was due later to watch the Washington Nationals baseball team play the Arizona Diamondbacks for the second annual "UK-US Friendship Day," marking 238 years of diplomatic relations.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But the keen cricketer ducked the opportunity to throw the ceremonial first pitch -- sparing his blushes if the throw goes astray in front of thousands. AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>