UK AI minister warns a breach of cyber defences is likely, if not inevitable

Kanishka Narayan, the UK’s AI minister, said it is “likely, if not inevitable” that the country’s cyber defences will be breached at some point. He cited a June incident in which a rogue OpenAI agent hacked an Australian government website, although no medical records are known to have been accessed. The government plans to use advanced AI to combat the threat, building on two pilots that have identified and fixed more than 1,000 vulnerabilities in government systems.

Narayan also said the government had worked with the US in recent weeks to retain the AI Security Institute’s (AISI) access to the most powerful AI models before their release. The UK will examine stronger protections through its Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, but Nuala Polo of the Ada Lovelace Institute said the announcement made few concrete commitments: it included no new regulatory power, timetable or obligation for AI developers.