The UK government has outlined around £600 million in funding aimed largely at addressing health and security threats associated with artificial intelligence, with commitments for biological threat detection, cyber defence and the AI Security Institute. The plans also include support for businesses adopting AI, research into its economic effects and regional projects.
Biosecurity is a central element of the programme. A new AI Biosecurity Lab will receive £100 million to use artificial intelligence to identify biological threats, while another £65 million will support the development of countermeasures against pathogens. The two commitments cover distinct parts of biological preparedness: detecting potential dangers and developing ways to respond to them.
OpenAI and Anthropic will contribute up to £200 million in model credits. These credits provide access to AI systems rather than cash funding, making their contribution different from the government’s financial allocations. Google DeepMind and London-based AI life sciences company Basecamp Research will also provide support.
AI minister Kanishka Narayan said the government’s ambition is to establish the lab as a major international institution, bringing together scientific expertise to protect the public against emerging biological threats. The initiative places AI in a dual role: a technology whose risks require oversight and a tool that researchers can use to strengthen preparedness.
That dual role is particularly relevant in the life sciences. AI can help researchers analyse complex biological information and identify patterns across large datasets. At the same time, increasingly capable systems raise concerns about whether tools developed for legitimate scientific work could be misused. Biological security therefore involves both advancing defensive research and assessing the risks associated with access to powerful capabilities.
The existing AI Security Institute will receive an additional £120 million. A further £130 million is allocated to cyber defence projects covering critical infrastructure, the National Cyber Shield and the National Exposure and Real-Time Vulnerability Centre. The National Cyber Security Centre will also expand its presence in Manchester.
Cybersecurity presents a similar balance of opportunities and risks. AI can support defenders in analysing suspicious activity and finding weaknesses, but it can also assist malicious actors. Protecting critical infrastructure requires more than identifying vulnerabilities: organisations must also prioritise repairs and maintain systems that essential services depend on.
Beyond security, the government has set out £60 million for a fund supporting British companies applying AI to robotics, autonomous systems and manufacturing. Another £60 million will go towards AI research and procurement, alongside £23 million for research into the technology’s economic impact.
The remaining announced measures include £18 million for a chip design academy and a £15 million prize for AI applications addressing public policy problems, with healthcare as its initial focus. Regional mayors will receive £30 million to support local AI work, extending the programme beyond national research and security institutions.
Sources: AI Insider