What’s an AI reception without some cool AI-related activity? On the sidelines of the AI Impact Summit in Delhi, before taking the stage at the Shaping Tomorrow – The UK AI Showcase & Reception at the British High Commissioner Lindy Cameron’s residence, the UK’s former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the UK’s Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy had their caricatures sketched by a robot. What followed was a wide-ranging conversation on AI, cricket, and the UK’s proactive approach to the technology.“It has been absolutely wonderful to have you here tonight at our AI Summit UK Party. I was privileged to attend the very first AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park in 2023. It is special to be back at the fourth AI Summit, hosted by incredible India. We’ve had a phenomenal day. I hope you enjoyed the AI talks – or got your caricature done by a robot. I’ve been watching our two special guests getting theirs done. I think I should frame them once we get hold of them,” said Cameron, before welcoming Sunak and Lammy to the stage.
Introducing the UK’s former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, David Lammy said, “I should start by saying that the former PM, Rishi Sunak, is not just a great son of the UK – he is also a great son of India.” Sunak promptly interjected, “Son-in-law”
UK’s Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy revealed, “I want to establish my heritage too, because my great- grandmother on my mother’s side was from Calcutta”
Came to India for the first time 35 years ago: UK Deputy PM Lammy“I first came to India 35 years ago as a student. I was 18, wearing tie-dye – as you did back then. It has been a privilege to bring my family here on holiday. We spent a wonderful time in Kerala. And now I am here for work. When there was a change of government in the UK in 2024, there were two things I had to get right as Foreign Secretary. One was managing the relationship with the incoming Donald Trump administration. The second was ensuring that the UK-India bond – which had grown stronger over the last decade, including during Rishi’s tenure – continued to strengthen. Our job was to pick up the baton, carry it across the line, and not drop it,” Lammy said.
Kanishka Narayan, Minister for AI and Online Safety, UK
Lindy Cameron, British High Commissioner
Priyanka Chaturvedi
Diana Mickevičienė, Lithuanian Ambassador
Oleksandr Polishchuk, Ukrainian Ambassador
We needed a forum to discuss the most defining technology of our time – AI: Rishi SunakDuring their chat, Lammy said to Sunak, “While we sit on different sides of the political aisle, we have worked together and been friends for many years… But we are here to discuss AI. You kicked off the first summit at Bletchley Park. It was clearly an issue you cared about – why did you use your platform?” Sunak began by apologising for arriving late. “AI can do many things, as we’ve heard this week, but it can’t fix Delhi’s traffic,” he said, drawing laughter. He then added, “When I moved into Downing Street, people from the Foreign Office sat me down with a long list of international summits I should attend – about 150 of them. Looking at that list, I realised there wasn’t a single summit focused on the most defining technology of our time: AI… We needed a forum to discuss that. India has now, according to Stanford rankings, moved into the medal positions as an AI superpower – something to be proud of, although it is a little bit disappointing because they leapfrogged the UK to get to that position. I did point out to Prime Minister Modi just now that, if you look at the ICC Test rankings, England is still ahead, which is arguably more important.”
