Britain announced a roughly £600 million package on October 24 for AI-related work to protect against biological threats, defend computer systems, improve safety research and support British technology businesses.
The support for businesses comes ahead of the government’s Budget. The largest security-focused allocation is £165 million for the National AI Biosecurity Initiative, including £100 million to set up an AI Biosecurity Lab. The lab is intended to use AI to help find biological threats and speed the development of vaccines, treatments and other ways to respond to them.
OpenAI and Anthropic have separately committed up to £200 million in AI model credits for the biosecurity effort. These are company commitments, not government funding. The initiative also sets aside £65 million to monitor for biological threats and prepare medical responses to priority pathogens, or disease-causing organisms.
Another £120 million will go to the AI Security Institute, which tests advanced AI systems and studies their risks. A further £130 million is set aside for projects to defend computer systems, including work to protect critical infrastructure, such as essential services, and find weaknesses. The broader package also includes funding for AI research, British firms, chip-design skills and regional projects.
This means it is more than a security-only programme.