The government will create a new Laboratory for AI Security Research to help the UK “stay ahead in the new AI arms race”.
Pat McFadden, the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, is set to announce the lab at the NATO Cyber Defence Conference at Lancaster House today.
The lab “will pull together world-class industry, academic and government experts to assess the impact of AI on our national security”, McFadden said.
The lab’s partner organisations will include: the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; the Department for Science Innovation and Technology; GCHQ; the National Cyber Security Centre; the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory; Alan Turing Institute; the AI Safety Institute; the University of Oxford; Queen’s University Belfast; and innovation consultancy firm Plexal.
It will also seek collaboration with like-minded partners, starting with the Five Eyes countries and NATO allies, the Cabinet Office and FCDO said in a joint press release.
The government will provide an initial £8m of funding for the lab carry out research, with industry “encouraged to invest in the partnership to support future research”.
Stephen Doughty, minister for Europe, North America and UK Overseas Territories, said the lab “builds on the UK’s position as the global birthplace of modern computing, following the pioneering legacy of Alan Turing" and will “ensure the UK and our allies reap the benefits of AI, while detecting, disrupting and deterring adversaries who would use it to undermine our national security and economic prosperity”.
Alongside the new laboratory, McFadden will announce a £1m incident-response project to share expertise to enable allies to respond to cyber incidents more effectively.