UK says it will invest £100m in AI biosecurity lab

The UK government says it will establish the National AI Biosecurity Lab (AIBL) with £100m committed in the Budget to strengthen responses to emerging biological threats. Details about the lab’s role and remit have yet to be disclosed. OpenAI and Anthropic will support the initiative with £200m worth of credits for using their models.

The package also includes an additional £120m for the AI Security Institute, £60m for a “National Cyber Shield” using agentic AI, and £70m for a centre intended to detect vulnerabilities across critical infrastructure and the economy. The announcement follows critical flaws in PHP that prompted organisations to take some sites offline as a precaution; there have been no reports of successful exploitation, but experts warned that AI could help surface long-dormant vulnerabilities quickly.