UK announces £600m-plus package for AI safety, biosecurity and health innovation

The Government has announced more than £600 million of investment intended to strengthen the UK’s defences against AI-enabled threats while supporting domestic technology and its use in healthcare.

A £165 million National AI Biosecurity Initiative forms a central part of the package. This includes £100 million for a new laboratory that will use artificial intelligence to detect and monitor biological threats, alongside £65 million for surveillance and the development of medical countermeasures against priority pathogens.

OpenAI and Anthropic will provide up to £200 million in AI model credits to support the biosecurity laboratory, with Google DeepMind and Basecamp Research also involved. This industry support is separate from the Government’s public investment.

Other measures include an additional £120 million for the AI Security Institute, £130 million for cyber-defence programmes and £60 million for research and procurement addressing challenges across health, care and AI safety.

The package is not solely defensive: funding will also support British AI companies, chip-design skills and regional innovation. Ministers say the approach is intended to reduce reliance on overseas technology while ensuring increasingly powerful AI systems can be tested and used more safely.

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