UK sets up AI lab to monitor biosecurity threats

The UK government will set up a £100mn AI biosecurity lab to monitor emerging threats amid fears the fast-evolving technology could be used to create biological weapons and viruses.

Chancellor John Healey and AI minister Kanishka Narayan announced the new lab on Saturday as part of a £600mn package to drive the technology and defences against its potential risks ahead of next week’s Budget.

The move comes as AI groups race to address the risk that future models could help users create novel viruses or bioweapons amid rising concerns that the technology’s scientific capabilities will become the industry’s next public-security threat.

Narayan said the lab — to be backed by up to £200mn worth of AI model credits from US developers OpenAI and Anthropic — would be a “major new global institution” and help “ensure Britain leads the world in AI safety and security”.

The first cabinet-level minister for AI, Narayan is attempting to set out a vision of UK AI sovereignty that would see crucial technologies and data storage housed in Britain, while seeking a handful of world-leading capabilities, including safety, that would offer the UK leverage in negotiations with the US and others.

The government also announced £120mn in fresh funding for the AI Security Institute, the global leader in testing of frontier AI models, and £130mn to use the technology to boost national cybersecurity.

AI models helped uncover security flaws in the technology that underpins roughly 70 per cent of the internet this week, highlighting the way hackers could seek to use the technology to exploit cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

OpenAI, which is the maker of ChatGPT, and Anthropic have both stepped up work on biological risk testing and other safeguards in recent months.

Matt Clifford, a former Downing Street adviser on AI who joined Anthropic in September, welcomed the creation of the lab, saying the technology was “changing both the biological risks we face and the nature of biological discovery”.

Sasha Baker, OpenAI’s head of national security policy, said researchers in the lab would “use advanced AI safely to detect threats earlier, accelerate the development of life-saving countermeasures, and improve our ability to prevent and respond to biological crises”.

Healey’s spending package also included £60mn for the Sovereign AI Fund, which invests in homegrown AI start-ups, as well as funding for local areas to educate residents on using AI.

Kate Shoesmith, director of policy at the British Chambers of Commerce lobby group, said the measures “should unlock AI innovation at home” but called on ministers to “look to address barriers to AI adoption to unlock growth across all firms”.