UK government sets out £600m AI security funding package

Britain has set out around £600 million ($800 million) of funding, largely geared towards defending against health and security threats from artificial intelligence, Reuters reports (https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-government-sets-out-800-million-ai-security-funding-2026-10-23/).

The biggest chunk goes to a new biosecurity initiative: £100 million for an AI Biosecurity Lab using AI to detect biological threats, plus £65 million for countermeasures against pathogens. OpenAI and Anthropic will offer up to £200 million of model credits to the initiative, while Google DeepMind and London-based AI life-sciences startup Basecamp Research will provide other assistance.

The AI Security Institute gets an extra £120 million, and £130 million will fund cyber-defence projects for critical infrastructure and the wider economy — the National Cyber Shield and the National Exposure and Real-Time Vulnerability Centre.

The package, ahead of the budget update on 28 October, also includes £60 million for a fund backing British companies using AI in robotics, autonomous systems and manufacturing; £60 million for AI research and procurement; £23 million for AI economic-impact research; £18 million for a chip design academy; £15 million for a prize for AI public-policy solutions, first focused on healthcare; and £30 million for regional mayors.

“The aim is for the AI Biosecurity Lab to become a major global institution bringing together world-leading scientific expertise to protect people from emerging biological threats,” AI minister Kanishka Narayan said, according to Reuters. The Straits Times, carrying an AFP report (https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/britain-pledges-more-funding-to-guard-against-ai-risks), independently confirmed the lab and institute figures, noting concern over recent security incidents involving models from OpenAI and Anthropic during testing.