Mandelson Calls for UK–US Alliance Centred on AI to Counter China Threat

The ambassador also addressed the need for Europe to increase its own defence spending and to rely less on the United States.

British Ambassador to the United States Lord Peter Mandelson speaks during a welcome reception at the ambassador's residence in Washington, on Feb. 26, 2025. Carl Court/PA Wire

British Ambassador to the United States Lord Peter Mandelson has called for greater UK–U.S. cooperation in technology to counter the “clear shared threat” from China.

Mandelson highlighted artificial intelligence specifically as the “spearpoint” of this potential British–American tech collaboration, in a speech he delivered to the Atlantic Council on Tuesday.

The ambassador told delegates that the recently-agreed UK–U.S. trade agreement signals the beginning of a new relationship, which he hopes will include a tech partnership that can build up resilience towards new threats.

The former Labour MP said: “We face a clear, shared threat. There is nothing in this world I fear more than China winning the race for technological dominance in the coming decades.

“China represents a far more dynamic and formidable strategic rival than the Soviet Union ever was: economically sophisticated, highly innovative, and strategically patient.”

AI ‘Spearpoint’ of Collaboration

Mandelson said that the United States and the UK are the only two Western nations with trillion-pound technology ecosystems, which when combined would “drive the scientific breakthroughs that will define this century, and AI should be the spearpoint of that collaboration.”

“Rather than stifling these transformative technologies through excessive regulation, our two governments must unleash their immense potential for human benefit and Western advantage,” Mandleson said.

The ambassador is not alone in recommending greater international collaboration on tech to counter China.

In May, University of Oxford lecturer Keegan McBride and senior fellow at the R Street Institute Adam Thierer wrote that the United States must work with allies in order to “forge new technological partnerships that reflect liberal and democratic values in order to counter and outcompete a formidable digital China in its aim to establish a techno-authoritarian global order.”

Mandleson’s comments come as London has sought to reset relations with Beijing.

In a shift from their Conservative predecessors who distanced themselves from the regime, the new Labour government resumed diplomatic relations with China. It has said it will take a pragmatic approach, cooperating where it can and challenging Beijing when needed.

Labour’s Vision for AI

Since Labour came to power last year, it has said that AI will be at the forefront of its plans to grow the British economy and improve public services, as well as position the UK as a global leader in AI innovation.

In its AI Opportunities Action Plan, the government said that AI adoption could enhance innovation and productivity, growing the economy by an additional £400 billion by 2030.

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, on Jan. 21, 2025. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

In January, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to boost AI innovation, “enhancing America’s global AI dominance,” and announced a $500 billion investment in private sector development of AI infrastructure.

Recently, Trump said that his tariff policies are aimed at bolstering the American tech industry, as well as defence, saying on May 25, “We are looking to do chips and computers and lots of other things, and tanks and ships.”

European Defence

Trump’s emphasis on ramping up defence production comes as European NATO allies work to strengthen their own military capabilities in response to the Russia–Ukraine war, growing global tensions, and increasingly assertive hostile states.

Mandelson addressed the need for Europe to increase its own defence spending and to rely less on the United States, which is a point that Trump has been making since his 2016 presidential campaign.

The ambassador said during his speech at the Atlantic Council that Europe’s “peace dividend” has turned into a urgent bill for decades of defence underinvestment, with the return of war on European soil being a “brutal wake-up call.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaks to crew in the control room as he tours HMS Iron Duke in Tallinn, Estonia, on Dec. 17, 2024. Leon Neal/Getty Images

“We have lived in a fantasy created by the U.S. security guarantee, complacent that a friendly heavyweight across the water would be always there when the going gets tough,” he said.

Mandelson—who has not always seen eye-to-eye with Trump, having called him a bully and a “danger to the world“ during the president’s first term in office—said: ”It is crystal clear that European defence must step up and rebalance for our collective security. Actually, I think President Trump is doing Europe a favour by confronting us with this reality.”

Last year, the government committed to raising the UK’s defence spending to 2.5 percent of GDP—above the 2 percent allies agreed on in 2014—and has launched a new defence strategy aimed at strengthening the country’s security.