World’s first AI-powered lab aims to prevent future pandemics

The UK government plans to open the world’s first biosecurity lab, with £100 million in government funding and up to £200 million promised jointly by OpenAI and Anthropic.

The lab will use artificial intelligence (AI) to develop medical tools to fight new and emerging germs that cause disease. Its goal is to help protect people from future pandemics.

The plan also includes an extra £120 million for the AI Security Institute. The institute will set safety standards and reduce risks linked to advances in AI technology. The budget will also provide £10 million each year to study how AI may change businesses and affect jobs.

A new National Exposure and Real-Time Vulnerability Centre will receive £70 million. It will use AI to help protect the UK's infrastructure and economy from growing cyber threats.

Chancellor John Healey and AI minister Kanishka Narayan said the plan reflects a British approach that aims to support new ideas while protecting security and public trust. They also said humans should remain in control of AI.

Business leaders welcomed the focus on trust, chip design and resilience. However, they urged the government to help more workers learn AI skills and remove barriers that make it harder for businesses in all sectors to use AI.

Jordan Cummins, a director at the CBI, said, “The Chancellor is right to make security, resilience and trust central to the UK’s approach to AI. Businesses will adopt AI faster and use it more widely when they are confident that it is safe, secure and works in the interests of their workforce.”

Ben Spencer, the Shadow AI Minister, criticised the announcement, calling it a “shopping list of projects” without a clear strategy. He also questioned whether aligning UK rules with EU regulations could make it harder for the UK to access important US technology.