FX.co ★ UK eyes £600m AI security push backed by tech giants

The UK is weighing a £600 million (about $800 million) investment into national security projects based on artificial intelligence. The government plans to deploy algorithms to guard against cyberattacks, biological threats, and failures in critical infrastructure.

The lion’s share of the budget will go to biosecurity. London will spend £100 million to set up a dedicated AI lab designed to forecast new epidemics and a further £65 million to develop algorithms to counter dangerous pathogens. The AI minister, Kanishka Narayan, pledged to make the lab a leading international centre for health protection. Tech giants are pitching in: OpenAI and Anthropic will provide the project with concessionary loans totaling £200 million to enable access to their models, while Google DeepMind has agreed to share expertise.

A further £130 million will be allocated to cyber defence programs, including the National Cyber Shield and a real‑time vulnerability monitoring center. The existing AI Security Institute, which studies risks stemming from neural networks, will receive a £120 million grant.

The budget also includes targeted investments: £60 million for UK developers of AI‑powered robots, £18 million to set up a chip‑design academy, and £15 million to fund a competition for medical AI solutions. In addition, £30 million will be disbursed to regional mayors for local tech initiatives.

The large‑scale public investments come amid massive private spending by tech firms. Reuters reports that Anthropic’s operating costs alone topped $12 billion last year.