The UK government will spend £100 million, or about $134 million, on a new AI Biosecurity Lab that will use advanced artificial intelligence to spot and respond to biological threats. OpenAI and Anthropic are also lending support, though their contributions come mostly in computing power and software access rather than cash.
What is the UK AI Biosecurity Lab?
The Cabinet Office announced the plan on Saturday. The government described the lab as the world’s first dedicated AI biosecurity organization. It will begin with two tasks: finding new biological threats early, and speeding up work on vaccines and treatments. Experts in biosecurity and the life sciences will work alongside frontier AI systems to carry that out.
How much are OpenAI and Anthropic contributing?
The companies’ share is not cash. OpenAI will provide £100 million in compute and model credits, along with access to its models through its Rosalind Biodefense program. Anthropic will give up to £100 million in model credits, model access and technical support.
Google DeepMind will join research projects and may give the lab access to its Gemini and science models. UK firm Basecamp Research will share its AI biology models and its technical expertise on biosecurity challenges.
The lab will operate as an independent nonprofit, modeled on the AI Security Institute. The announcement did not name a director, a site or a start date. It also gave no time frame for spending the £100 million.
Who will take part in the UK AI Biosecurity Lab?
Several public bodies will take part, including the UK Health Security Agency and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory. The medicines regulator, the MHRA, will work with the lab on how to regulate medicines designed by AI.
The lab is part of a package of more than £600 million for AI security, set out ahead of Wednesday’s Budget. The package also includes £120 million for the AI Security Institute, according to City AM. AI minister Kanishka Narayan said the 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.”
The government argues that AI is opening new possibilities for science, but it is also creating new biological risks. In its announcement, it said AI systems could lower barriers to harmful activity. “AIBL’s cutting-edge research will strengthen UK and global resilience to a wide range of biological risks, including those enabled by advances in AI,” the government said.
The deal follows a similar offer earlier this month. Nvidia pledged $250 million of compute to UK AI safety research, also in computing power rather than cash.
Questo articolo è stato scritto con l'assistenza dell'IA.
News Factory APP - notizie agentiche per potenziare il tuo SEO e AEO.