Britain has set out around £600 million ($800 million) in funding largely aimed at defending against health and security threats posed by artificial intelligence, with the largest share going to a new biosecurity initiative.
According to a recent report by Reuters on the matter, this funding includes £100 million for a laboratory using AI to detect biological threats and £65 million to develop countermeasures against pathogens. UK’s AI minister, Kanishka Narayan, said the aim was for the AI Biosecurity Lab to become a major global institution, “bringing together world-leading scientific expertise to protect people from emerging biological threats.”
OpenAI and Anthropic will contribute up to £200 million in model credits to the initiative, while Google DeepMind and London-based life sciences startup Basecamp Research will offer other support, adds the report.
The package spreads across several areas. The existing AI Security Institute receives an extra £120 million, and £130 million goes to new projects improving cyber defences for critical infrastructure and the wider economy, known as the National Cyber Shield and the National Exposure and Real-Time Vulnerability Centre.
A further £60 million will fund a vehicle investing in British companies using AI for robotics, autonomous systems, and manufacturing, with another £60 million for AI research and procurement contracts. Research on AI’s economic impact gets £23 million, a new chip design academy £18 million, and a prize for AI solutions to public policy problems, initially healthcare, £15 million. Regional mayors will receive £30 million to support local AI work, Reuters adds.
The National Cyber Security Centre will also get an unspecified sum to expand in Manchester, the Reuters report further states.