Artificial Intelligence
UK commits £100m to AI Biosecurity Lab
The UK will put £100m into a new AI Biosecurity Lab and add funding for security programmes, while OpenAI and Anthropic will contribute model credits and officials outlined little detail.
- The UK government said it would spend £100m in Wednesday's Budget on a new AI Biosecurity Lab.
- The article said the lab's full role and remit had not yet been set out.
- OpenAI and Anthropic were to provide £200m worth of model credits for use with their systems.
- The Chancellor planned £120m more for the AI Security Institute, £60m for a National Cyber Shield and £70m for a NERV Centre.
- The government said it had taken some sites offline after flaws were found in PHP, and no successful exploits had been reported for the issue dubbed php2shell.
In Wednesday's Budget, the UK government said it would spend £100m on a new AI Biosecurity Lab. Officials said the institute was meant to improve the country's response to biological risks, but its detailed remit had not yet been published.
John Healey said AI would change everyday life and argued for a British approach that protected workers and national interests. Kanishka Narayan described the planned lab as a major global institution and said it would draw on scientific expertise.
The article said OpenAI and Anthropic would supply £200m worth of model credits for use with their systems. The Chancellor also planned £120m more for the AI Security Institute, which was created in 2023 under the former Conservative government.
Another £60m was earmarked for a National Cyber Shield and £70m for a National Exposure and Real-Time Vulnerability Centre. The government said those plans would use AI to identify weaknesses in critical infrastructure and the wider economy.
Separately, the government said it had taken some sites offline as a precaution after flaws were found in PHP. Researchers said platforms using the language could be at risk, although no successful exploitation had been reported for the issue dubbed php2shell.
Named in this story
People
- John Healey
- argued for a British approach to AI that would protect workers and national interests
- Kanishka Narayan
- said the proposed lab would be a major global institution
Companies
- OpenAI
- will provide £200m worth of AI model credits
- Anthropic
- will provide £200m worth of AI model credits
Organisations
- AI Biosecurity Lab (AIBL)
- the new national institute the UK plans to establish
- AI Security Institute (AISI)
- will receive an additional £120m
- National Cyber Shield
- will receive £60m for AI-backed cyber-defences
- National Exposure and Real-Time Vulnerability (NERV) Centre
- will receive £70m to detect vulnerabilities
Governments and agencies
- UK government
- said it would fund the new lab and related security programmes
Products and systems
- PHP
- had flaws that led the government to take some sites offline as a precaution
How the source tells it
Mostly straight reporting, with ministerial boosterism and mild threat framing in the quoted remarks.
- boosterism ministerial claims and a superlative label present the lab as unusually important
- urgency repeated references to evolving threats and precautionary shutdowns create a time-pressured security frame