- New money to make sure AI is harnessed for good in every community across the UK
- Biggest ever investment in protections from cyber risks and future threats, including up to £300m in public-private backing for a new AI Biosecurity Lab
- Investment in British AI firms to scale and stay in the UK alongside funding for AI that fixes the nation’s health
A major package of investment to unlock the opportunities of AI in every postcode, scale up homegrown AI firms, and keep the country safe from hostile threats will be announced by the Chancellor next week.
People across the country will benefit from stronger infrastructure and investment in local economies as the Chancellor is set to make AI a part of his Budget. He has announced hundreds of millions in investment to guard against the risks of AI while harnessing the opportunities to raise living standards for working people, back British industry and ensure our country is better off.
The Chancellor’s plans include £10 million per year to lead the UK’s work in understanding how AI will reshape jobs and industry, and how Britain needs to prepare for it, addressing concerns about AI’s replacement of jobs for workers across the country and making sure government is best placed to help people into jobs in the future.
The investment announced today helps protect against those risks, and cuts UK dependence on other countries to bolster our security and resilience while supporting homegrown businesses and talent. It will boost the UK’s ability to build our own chip design and cyber defences, and will go further to make sure AI works for Britain, boosting the economy, speeding up public services, and keeping Brits secure.
New investments in AI chip design capability in Edinburgh alongside a new AI Centre of Excellence in Manchester to develop talent will help ensure the benefits of harnessing AI are felt in every postcode through the creation of jobs and new routes to training and skills.
Chancellor of the Exchequer, John Healey MP, said:
“AI will transform daily life: every firm, community, hospital, school, and every aspect of our economy can benefit.
“I understand and share the concerns of working people, so I am setting out a distinctively British approach to AI – one that doesn’t leave workers behind and defends our national interest, while ensuring the benefits of AI-enabled growth are felt right across the country.”
AI Minister Kanishka Narayan said:
“Our new AI Biosecurity Lab will be a major new global institution, bringing together world-leading scientific expertise to protect people from emerging biological threats and ensure Britain leads the world in AI safety and security.
“As AI becomes more powerful, Britain must have the capabilities to protect its people and shape its own future. That means staying ahead of emerging threats, from cyber attacks to biological risks, while building more of the critical technology our security depends on.
“We cannot afford to rely entirely on technology built overseas. By backing British science, advanced chips and our own AI companies, we can strengthen our national security, rebuild Britain’s industrial strength and create good, skilled jobs across the country.”
Security Minister Dan Jarvis said:
“I’m proud the UK has repeatedly been at the forefront of global efforts to use AI for the benefit of humankind. Today’s investment will help the UK seize the opportunities AI presents to strengthen our national security, while staying one step ahead of those who seek to use AI to do us harm.”
AI Security
The economic opportunities from AI will only be realised if our critical infrastructure, public services and businesses are resilient to cyber, biological and emerging AI-enabled threats. This package strengthens Britain’s ability to manage those risks, gives investors and innovators confidence to build here, and will help drive adoption across businesses and public services to unlock growth all across the UK. To this end, the Chancellor has announced:
- £165m for a new National AI Biosecurity Initiative, including £100 million for a world-first AI Biosecurity Lab (AIBL) to apply AI to the detection and surveillance of biological threats, and £65 million to strengthen bio surveillance and develop medical countermeasures for priority pathogens. As a vote of confidence in the UK’s leadership on AI talent and tackling biological threats, AIBL will be supported by up to £200 million in AI model credits from OpenAI and Anthropic, plus partnerships with Google DeepMind and London-based AI life sciences pioneer Basecamp Research.
- An additional £120 million investment in the AI Security Institute to ensure the UK remains at the forefront of understanding AI capabilities and risks through its testing and research, building a shared scientific understanding by testing new AI systems and developing technical standards to ensure risks are mitigated.
- Investing £60 million into a National Cyber Shield that will use agentic AI to improve the UK’s cyber defences, including a £25 million challenge fund to support UK AI and cyber security innovators and scoping for a new regulatory sandbox to support deployment of agentic cyber security solutions across critical national infrastructure, the public sector and industry.
- A new £70 million National Exposure and Real-Time Vulnerability (NERV) Centre will deploy AI tools to identify cyber vulnerabilities across our critical infrastructure and the economy.
Homegrown capability to put Britain in the driving seat
As well as protecting ourselves from future risks, this package backs British firms, research institutions and homegrown talent to develop AI here in the UK, where we can make sure it is shaped by our values and serves the British public. This will give us greater control and make sure the UK isn’t reliant on technologies developed elsewhere. ive up living standards and unlock growth in every postcode.