UK sets out £600 million for AI security, including a £100 million AI Biosecurity Lab

Britain's government on October 24 set out around £600 million ($800 million) of funding largely geared towards defending against health and security threats from artificial intelligence, Reuters reported. According to the BBC, the measures form part of Wednesday's Budget.

An AI Biosecurity Lab

The biggest share goes to a new biosecurity initiative, including £100 million for an AI Biosecurity Lab (AIBL) that will use AI to detect biological threats and £65 million to develop countermeasures against pathogens. The government's announcement on GOV.UK describes AIBL as the world's first dedicated AI biosecurity organisation, intended to help detect threats earlier and speed up the discovery, development and testing of vaccines, treatments and other medical countermeasures.

OpenAI and Anthropic will provide up to £200 million in model credits, access to their models rather than cash, while Google DeepMind and London-based Basecamp Research will contribute research collaborations and tools. AIBL will operate as an independent non-profit, modelled on the AI Security Institute, and will work with the UK Health Security Agency, the Animal and Plant Health Agency, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory and the medicines regulator MHRA.

AI minister Kanishka Narayan said the aim was for the lab to become a major global institution "bringing together world-leading scientific expertise to protect people from emerging biological threats."

Cyber defence and other spending

According to Reuters, the existing AI Security Institute will receive an extra £120 million. A further £130 million will fund two projects to improve cyber defences for critical infrastructure and the wider economy, the National Cyber Shield and the National Exposure and Real-Time Vulnerability (NERV) Centre. The BBC said the Cyber Shield will use agentic AI to bolster defences.

Other items include £60 million for a fund investing in British companies using AI in robotics, autonomous systems and manufacturing; £60 million for AI research and procurement contracts; £23 million for research on AI's economic impact; £18 million for a new chip design academy; a £15 million prize for AI solutions to public policy problems, initially in healthcare; and £30 million for regional mayors' local AI work.

The package follows the UK government's move to take some sites offline as a precaution after critical PHP vulnerabilities, surfaced with the help of AI tools, came to light.

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Sources: Reuters, BBC News, GOV.UK. Image: Getty Images (via BBC News).