Sunak defends Elon Musk interview after MP says ‘world cringed at his fawning welcome’

Rishi Sunak has defended his interview with Elon Musk at the UK’s AI summit earlier this month, after a Labour MP criticised his “fawning welcome”.

Daniel Zeichner said the “world cringed” over the prime minister’s discussion with the tech billionaire, and questioned what he has learnt from “an unelected, super-rich individual who had taken over a once successful organisation and plunged it into a death spiral.”

Mr Sunak hit back by saying it was “extraordinary” that Mr Zeichner did not “understand the importance of technology sectors and companies to the growth of our economy”.

“What the rest of the world saw was the UK playing a lead in defining the regulations and approach to a technology that is going to transform how we live.”