UK Funds £100m AI Biosecurity Lab

The UK government said on Saturday it will put £100m into an AI Biosecurity Lab to use advanced AI to detect and respond to biological threats. OpenAI and Anthropic will contribute up to £200m combined, the Cabinet Office said. The government called it the world’s first dedicated AI biosecurity organisation. Its initial tasks are to identify biological threats early and speed up work on vaccines and treatments.

The companies’ contributions are not cash. OpenAI will provide £100m in computing resources and model credits, plus access to its models through its Rosalind Biodefense programme. Anthropic will provide up to £100m in model credits, model access and technical support. Google DeepMind will take part in research projects and may provide access to Gemini and its science models; UK firm Basecamp Research will share its AI biology models.

The lab will be an independent non-profit run along the lines of the AI Security Institute. The announcement did not name a director, location or start date, and did not specify the period covered by the government’s £100m funding. The UK Health Security Agency and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory will participate. The medicines regulator, the MHRA, will work with the lab on regulating medicines designed by AI.

The lab is part of an AI security package worth more than £600m, set out before the Budget on Wednesday. The package also includes £120m for the AI Security Institute, City AM reported. Chancellor John Healey announced the package, while AI minister Kanishka Narayan called the lab a major new global institution, according to the Evening Standard. Earlier this month, Nvidia pledged $250m in computing power for UK AI safety research, also as computing resources rather than cash.

The UK government said on Saturday it will put £100m into an AI Biosecurity Lab to use advanced AI to detect and respond to biological threats. OpenAI and Anthropic will contribute up to £200m combined, the Cabinet Office said. The government called it the world’s first dedicated AI biosecurity organisation. Its initial tasks are to identify biological threats early and speed up work on vaccines and treatments.

The companies’ contributions are not cash. OpenAI will provide £100m in computing resources and model credits, plus access to its models through its Rosalind Biodefense programme. Anthropic will provide up to £100m in model credits, model access and technical support. Google DeepMind will take part in research projects and may provide access to Gemini and its science models; UK firm Basecamp Research will share its AI biology models.

The lab will be an independent non-profit run along the lines of the AI Security Institute. The announcement did not name a director, location or start date, and did not specify the period covered by the government’s £100m funding. The UK Health Security Agency and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory will participate. The medicines regulator, the MHRA, will work with the lab on regulating medicines designed by AI.

The lab is part of an AI security package worth more than £600m, set out before the Budget on Wednesday. The package also includes £120m for the AI Security Institute, City AM reported. Chancellor John Healey announced the package, while AI minister Kanishka Narayan called the lab a major new global institution, according to the Evening Standard. Earlier this month, Nvidia pledged $250m in computing power for UK AI safety research, also as computing resources rather than cash.